Labour Wants Minimum Wage On Exclusive Legislative List

The organised labour in Nigeria has urged the National Assembly to retain the issue of minimum wage of workers on the exclusive legislative list of the constitution.
In a joint statement signed by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) National President, Comrade Abdulwahed Omar, with his counterpart of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) National President, Comrade Boibo Kaigama respectively, and made available to The Tide, the union said the constitution confers the responsibility for legislation on the minimum wage on the National Assembly.
The statement said under items 34 of the second schedule of the 1999 constitution, the National Assembly was empowered to prescribe a national minimum wage for the federation or any part thereof.
The labour leaders said that it was in pursuant to this power that the National Assembly exacted the National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act 2011 and was accordingly assnated to by the president.
The organised labour said the rationale behind fixing of a minimum wage  to ensure that employees especially, the unorganised and unskilled are not exploited.
The union leaders said moving the minimum wage to the concurrent list could create an undesirable situation over time where state minimum wage variation across states became a “beggar-thy neighbor instrument” in seeking to attract economic establishment to locate in states.
The statement said it was the rationale to avoid this type of injurious competition that necessitated the income tax, be it personal or company to be placed on the exclusive legislative list.
The unions said multiplicity of minimum wage will serve to create a segmentation of labour market that would weaken national economic cohesion throughout the country.
The trade union leaders said it was rather unfortunate that the minimum wage has been politicised.
The statement urged the National Assembly to maintain the minimum wage the same way the 1999 constitution adopted it under the exclusive legislative list in order to strengthen and protect the vulnerable within the society.