ABUJA, Federal Republic of Nigeria. The national leadership of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), on Tuesday, met with Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, serving the Federal Government notice for the upward review of minimum wage.
The congress also called on the government to reverse the sale of the Electricity Distribution Companies (DISCOs) as it noted that the current owners lacked the capacity and competence to properly manage them.
Speaking to State House correspondents after the meeting with Vice-President Osinbajo at the State House, TUC President, Mr Bobboi Kaigama, said the National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act 2011 would be five years in March.
He said in recognition of the International Labour Organisation’s Minimum Wage fixing Convention 131 of 1970, there was the need to raise an ad hoc committee to review it.
“We use this opportunity to serve notice that it is time the FG to set up that committee and mandate it to kick start work on the fixing of a new minimum wage.
“We trust that this will be done immediately to save Nigerian workers from the harsh effects of present day economic realities, which is taking tolls on their meager incomes,” he said.
On power supply, Kaigama said current electricity tariff was “anti-people,” while he argued that the Act of the National Assembly empowering the electricity regulator the unilateral power to increase and, at the same time, disallowing same legislature from tampering with the Act as was “very lame, too simplistic and misleading.”
According to him, “any Act that preys on the masses that it is supposed to protect negates the very essence of public policy.
“In the same vein, any Act that compels the citizens to pay for services not delivered is not only flawed and undemocratic, but ultra vires to the power of the National Assembly to make laws for the good of the country.”
He noted that while telecommunications operators brought funds, expertise, service delivery and competition in their business, the sole aim of the Discos “is profiteering through fraud.”
According to him, the DISCOs had failed to implement their own part of the contract with poor electricity and non-availability of meters being experienced nationwide.
“We expect the presidency to issue a categorical statement affirming a return to status quo ante regarding the unit price of electricity,” Kaigama said.
The TUC leader urged government to intervene in the lingering crisis in the health sector by distributing appointments in the health sector to, at least, 20 professional bodies in the sector rather than to the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) alone, saying “for the avoidance of doubt, we affirm that no single profession in the health sector can go it alone.”
He similarly appealed to government to honour and implement all agreements reached between it and the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) since 2009.
The TUC also asked government to resolve the outstanding issues in the ministries, departments and agencies regarding non-payment of promotion arrears outstanding since 2007, non-payment of first 28 days allowance in lieu of hotel accommodation and non-payment of duty tour allowances (DTAS) to workers, non-payment of mandatory allowance for training programmes as well as non-payment of repatriation allowance.
