We Will Overcome Those Who Want To Pay Nigerians ‘Starvation Wage’- NLC

The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, (NLC) Comrade Joe Ajaero, has assured Nigerians of its undivided attention to the discussion of the national minimum wage five years after the N30,000 wage was signed.

Recall that Former President Muhammadu Buhari signed the N30,000 minimum wage into law in April 2019.

Speaking at the International Lenin Centenary Conference in Abuja on Monday, Ajaero said, “As the comprador bourgeoises who have seized the reins of power in our nation and have continued to decimate all institutions of governance using them to subjugate, impoverish and incapacitate the sovereign will, tramples upon workers and masses, what will the apostles of Lenin do?

“Would Lenin instruct us to stand in our separate enclaves to engage the vicissitudes of the petroleum price hike which has decimated the poor in our nation while enriching our politicians and the wealthy?

“Would Lenin require us to stand aloof while workers are paid a pittance and the general income of the people is destroyed by the anti-people policies of the government? What would Lenin have us do comrades?

“That is why it is important that at this juncture I invite all of us as we prepare to negotiate the national minimum wage this year not to see it as a struggle for the NLC and TUC but a collective struggle.

“I request that we all join hands together from the beginning of the negotiation exercise to the end of it and its ultimate implementation so that we can overcome those who have already made up their minds to pay Nigerians a starvation wage”.

Ajaero also urged Nigerians to stand with the unions in the demand for a living wage.

“I therefore ask today, are there men and women here who are willing to tread the same path Lenin followed? Are there comrades here who are not workers in the classical sense but understand that our interests are the same and thus have made up their minds to join the struggle for a better Nigeria which must begin by enthroning equity in our world of work?

“Comrades remember, when we stand alone, our chances are slim but when we stand together, we can achieve our collective interests. Lenin who was not a worker in the classical sense understood this and championed the cause of workers around the globe.”