Labour stakeholders react to Tinubu’s broadcast

Some stakeholders in the labour sector have commended President Bola Tinubu for his broadcast to the nation on the current economic challenges in the country.

The stakeholders gave the commendation in separate interviews on Tuesday in Lagos.

While some welcomed the president’s plans for businesses in the country to grow others urged him to constitute a National Minimum Wage Fixing Committee to midwife the process of salary increase for workers.

The president in his speech had urged Nigerians to look beyond the present challenging situations in the country and focus on the larger picture, adding that his administration would not let them down.

The Director-General, Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), Mr Adewale Oyerinde, said that the president’s outlined plans for businesses both in the formal and informal sectors were welcome.

Oyerinde, who said that businesses were currently battling to stay afloat, called for immediate intervention to resolve what he called the FOREX quagmire, which he said was creating a lot of bottlenecks.

“Also, we further request the reversal of the Value Added Tax on Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), suspension of the planned electricity tariff and urgent appointment of competent ministers to drive the implementation of the various plans,” he said.

Speaking on the plan for what he described as the overdue wage increase, the NECA boss said that government must respect the International Labour Organisation Convention 131 on setting of National Minimum Wage.

“Government must constitute the National Minimum Wage Fixing Committee to midwife the process.

“Any arbitrary fixing of wages by the government will not be binding on the Organised Private Sector,” he said.

The General Secretary, Federation of Informal Workers of Nigeria, Mr Gbenga Komolafe, said rather than cash transfers, the government should complement informal sector savings into the micro pension scheme ostensibly designed for the informal sector.

He urged government under the Universal Healthcare Coverage, to support health insurance for people over 60 years and pregnant women.

“This group of people are currently excluded from the basic plans of most Health Maintenance Organisations (HMOs) which are all profit private health organisations

“There must be government support for the treatment of diseases such as hypertension, eye problems, diabetes and chronic diseases, which most informal and poor workers cannot afford at present.

“We need organic social protection programmes to cover informal sectors and not piecemeal dole outs, which do not reach the target beneficiaries anywhere,” Komolafe said.

In his remarks, the National Deputy President, Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, Mr Tommy Okon, said the meeting between organised labour and government was ongoing.

He, however, said that negotiation on the minimum wage was a constitutional matter and tripartite in nature.

Okon was reacting to the president’s statement of collaborating with the labour unions to introduce a new national minimum wage for workers.