GOVERNORS, so to say, are up in arms against a new National Minimum Wage, NMW. Individually and collectively, they have voiced opposition to the evolution of a new wage which may not be less than N60,000 as promised by President Bola Tinubu. While some have called for a confederate wage system, others have vowed not to pay the new salaries when passed by the National Assembly, NASS and signed by the President.
In the current negotiations, the 36 states governors and governments are represented by six governors; those of Niger, Bauchi, Katsina, Anambra, Osun and Cross Rivers states. The presence of these governors in the negotiations is to represent the interests of their colleagues. In the first place, minimum wages are, fundamentally, reflective of the cost of living. In fact, one of the most famous minimum wage reviews in Nigerian history, that of 1945, was called Cost Of Living Allowance, COLA. This is why submissions on a new minimum wage demand a breakdown which reflects the cost of living. If the governors did not do that at the negotiations, they have nobody to blame.
To ensure this, the ILO established the Minimum Wage which it defines as “…the minimum amount of remuneration that an employer is required to pay wage earners for the work performed during a given period, which cannot be reduced by collective agreement or an individual contract.” The ILO, which is the United Nations specialised arm for Labour, prescribes that the minimum wage “…is calculated for workers with piece rate pay, and if the minimum is an hourly and/or a monthly rate.” This makes phony, BRF’s arguments that our Constitution permits legislation only on “…minimum wage…It does not talk about salaries.”