Minimum Wage: Labour leaders’ blunder and FG’s uncertain commitment

I had hoped to avoid revisiting the minimum wage issue but the government’s persistent antics and labour leaders’ disappointing gullibility have forced me to speak out again. As I previously argued in my articles, labour leaders made a grave mistake by suspending the industrial action without achieving any concrete gains. They succumbed to government manipulation, and now the government is in control, toying with them at will, while workers continue to bear the brunt of this chase game!

The Federal Executive Council’s decision to step down the minimum wage memo yesterday, citing the need for further consultation, didn’t come as a surprise to me.

The government’s tactics should be clear to labour leaders and workers; delay, distract, and eventually attribute the minimum wage adjustment to the 2025 proposed budget, promising arrears payment. The government’s claim of insufficient consultation is a mere excuse to buy time and nothing more!

President Bola Tinubu explicitly campaigned on removing subsidies and floating the exchange rate. This wasn’t a spontaneous decision; he had explicitly promised to do so. In fact, the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) and the 2023 Appropriation Bill had already laid the groundwork by removing subsidies. President Tinubu reaffirmed his commitment to this plan even before the June deadline, leaving no doubt about his intentions. The implication is that President Tinubu was aware that these policies would necessitate the payment of a new minimum wage to workers.

Moreover, it has been three weeks since the tripartite committee submitted two recommendations to the President: labour’s ₦250,000, which was likely a face-saving gesture since the union leaders knew the government would never accept it, and the government/organised private sector’s ₦62,000.

Given that it’s been one year since the subsidy removal and three weeks since the committee submitted its report, it’s reasonable to expect that the government has had sufficient time to consult and make a decision on implementing a new minimum wage regime this year, if they were truly committed to it.

The truth remains that labour leaders squandered a critical opportunity to achieve their objectives, and their recent apologetic stance suggests that they have belatedly acknowledged their mistake. The strike was the sole leverage that could have compelled the government to act. Any future strike on this issue will lack the potency of the previous one and may further tarnish labour’s image, undermining their credibility and public support.

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Instead of gloating over the minimum wage, labour should acknowledge their misstep and shift their focus to advocating for the implementation of the promised salary increment.

Despite the President’s approval announcement on May 1st, a formal circular has yet to be issued to MDAs nearly two months later. Labour should prioritise this matter, as they have limited influence on the minimum wage issue now. The government has taken control of the process and will likely pay what it wants when it wants. Labour’s leverage has been compromised, and they must act strategically to achieve their goals.

Clearly, the minimum wage saga has starkly exposed the weaknesses in labour’s leadership. The fact that they failed to recognise the government’s lack of commitment to implementing a new minimum wage this year raises serious questions about their ability to negotiate effectively on behalf of workers. Indeed, their naivety has betrayed the trust placed in them by workers, who now suffer the consequences of their ineptitude.