Organised Labour has accused the Bola Tinubu-led federal government of deliberately frustrating Nigerian workers.
The labour movement made the accusation on Wednesday after it rejected the fresh offer of ₦57,000 minimum wage from the federal government.
Naija News reports that the Tinubu government proposed the amount during Wednesday’s meeting of the minimum wage tripartite committee in Abuja.
Recall the federal government increased its offer from ₦54,000 to ₦57,000, while labour reduced its demand from ₦615, 000 to ₦497, 000.
Speaking with Vanguard after the meeting, one of the labour leaders expressed his anger over the government’s attitude toward negotiating the new minimum wage.
The labour leader asserted that the government was not ready to negotiate or was not prepared for negotiation, saying that it was deliberately frustrating Nigerian workers.
He added that the government inflicted hardship on Nigerians with their ill-thought-out and unprogressive policies of subsidy removal and devaluation of the national currency.
He said: “Government cannot be telling us that there is no money; this is an insult. We did not remove subsidies or float the national currency. The government created this problem. Since the removal of the petrol subsidy and floating of the naira, has the government shown proof that the country has no money, no?
“We are aware that the government gave members of the National Assembly no less than N160 million each to buy cars, the same government has released N90 billion to subsidise hajj operations.
‘’The government has renovated the Senate chambers, and the vice president’s office, and it is buying luxury buses for Customs in millions of naira.
‘’They are also buying all manner of SUVs for government officers. Since the removal of subsidies, the government has been making life better for political elites who have been feeding fat on workers.
“Crude oil sales have increased considerably, and it has been getting more money in dollars while workers have been suffering and going deeper into poverty.
“The state governors have been receiving three times more than they were receiving before the removal of subsidy. We cannot accept this. We did not cause the socio-economic challenges the country is facing.
“The government inflicted these problems on the country with their ill-thought-out and unprogressive policies of subsidy removal and devaluation of the national currency. If the country has no money, let it reflect in the lives of government officials, their aides and cronies.
“It is becoming obvious that the government does not want industrial peace. And it is clearly evident that the government is not ready to negotiate. Well, if it is industrial unrest that will make the government do the right thing, we shall give it to them after the end of May.”