NLC lauds NECA for supporting new minimum wage

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has commended the  Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) for its support in the ongoing negotiations for a new national minimum wage.  The President of the NLC, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, gave the commendation at the 61st Annual General Assembly of NECA.

Represented by the Congress’ General Secretary, Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson, Wabba said NECA has identified with workers’ demand for a new national minimum wage and has promised to pay the new national minimum wage as soon as it is agreed upon and passed into law. “This proactive posture by NECA on a new national minimum wage speaks volumes of the pro-labour and patriotic disposition of employers in Nigeria to workers. Clearly, two of the tripods of social partnership – labour and employers are already in agreement over the national minimum wage. We urge the last remaining leg of the tripod which is the government to do the needful and give Nigerian workers a deserving new national minimum wage before the end of August 2018,” he said.

He said the Congress recognizes the critical role that NECA plays in fostering and facilitating industrial harmony in Nigeria, adding that NECA as the representative body of employers in Nigeria’s private sector, has always shown respect for workers’ rights as a necessary condition for sustained productivity and wealth creation.

“NECA has also over the years demonstrated strong empathy with the welfare of Nigerian workers especially with regards to meeting basic conditions for decent work.”

“Yes, NECA has a strong bond with Nigerian workers but it is not all Uhuru! There are still a few employers who have refused to be on the same page with the rest of employers in taking the issue of workers’ rights and entitlements seriously,” Wabba said.