Friday, September 20, 2013

Fashola, Fayemi back minimum wage decentralisation

The governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola, has urged labour
unions not to oppose plans by the National Assembly to decentralise
the fixing and payment of minimum wage.
He gave the advice in Ikeja on Friday while inaugurating the South
West Zonal Office of the National Pensions Commission, NPC.
The governor explained that decentralisation of minimum wage was the
best for true federalism, saying that states should not be compelled
to pay wage fixed by the Federal Government in a democracy.
On September 18, workers under the aegis of the Nigeria Labour
Congress, NLC, stormed the National Assembly to protest the attempt by
the legislature to remove minimum wage from the exclusive list- a
constitutional list of actions only the federal government can act
upon.
The Governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole, who led the protest,
claimed that the attempt amounted to politicisation of workers'
compensation, saying it would lead to a lack of uniformity among state
governments.
However, Mr. Fashola, who is an All Progressives Congress, APC,
governor like Mr. Oshiomhole, said, "I think the time has come for us
to speak openly and honestly for what we believe in. We may disagree
but we should try and agree at the end of the day.
"The labour union has a position on the decentralisation of the
minimum wage, perhaps they would listen to another position. For us,
it is not who makes the law that matters, it is whether or not the
Nigerian worker gets a fair pay for a hard job. Who makes the law and
who has the responsibility to manage it only detracts us from the main
issue.
"If we are decentralising the management of pensions and it is making
sense, why can't we decentralise payment of wages? This is a
federation; payment of wages should not be imposed on the states," Mr.
Fashola said.
The governor advised Labour to dialogue with appropriate government
authorities to reach an agreement on the issue, adding that incessant
protests were inimical to development.
On his part, the Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, insisted that
in a democracy, states could fix their own minimum wage irrespective
of the fact that the central government had fixed its own.
He argued that imposition of a national minimum wage was not in the
interest of Labour, adding that it might discourage states who wished
to reward workers from doing so.
"If we are truly a federal entity, states should also have a minimum
wage at the state level, rather than the imposed minimum wage. I
remember that at the early stage of our independence, workers in the
Western Region left the federal public service to work in the state
public service because the salaries were higher."
He described the Contributory Pension Scheme as the best thing to have
happened to the welfare of workers in the country, saying it was
structured to guarantee security of pensioners.
Mr. Fayemi said that Ekiti had not only signed the Pension Act, but
had also gone ahead to establish its pension commission. He disclosed
that the state would transit to the contributory before the end of the
year.
In his remarks, the Governor of Ogun State, Ibikunle Amosun, urged the
National Assembly to expedite action on the amendment of the Pension
Act to address some of the inherent challenges. He attributed the N13
billion pension arrears his administration inherited, to the
imperfections of the old scheme.
Mr. Amosun expressed his optimism that the transition to the new
scheme would ensure pensioners were paid as at when due.
The Acting Director-General of the NPC, Chinelo Anohu-Amazu, said that
the new South-West Zonal Office would facilitate efficient management
of workers' pensions.
(NAN)

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