Labour, FG in final push to avert crippling strike 'Minimum Wage'
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that labour has resorted to the strike option, following an apparent inability of government and labour to find a way out of the minimum wage logjam.
The two parties have engaged in endless and
often fruitless meetings, raising anxiety and frustrations among public
sector workers, who have waited patiently over the months for the new
wage.
Speaking in Abuja on Monday at the
continuation of a conciliatory meeting, the Chief Arbiter and Minister
of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, said the
meeting was an opportunity for information sharing and an avenue to
soften ground for a final meeting, slated for Oct. 15.
He told the labour leaders to be open-minded
in their dialogue so that both parties could get a way out of the
minimum wage logjam.
Ngige said he believed that the meeting would
bring an end to issues in contention, if both parties agreed and
understood each other’s positions.
“If we don’t soften the ground bullets
will fly and at the end of the day we will come back to the negotiating
table. That is why we are doing this as a proactive measure.
“Part of my work is to ensure that there
is a quiet industrial milieu. The workforce brings out their full
productivity and employers, businesses will not be disrupted. That is
why we called you again.
“Tomorrow, we are going to do the mix
grill meeting. That mix grill meeting tomorrow can be one hour meeting,
it can be two hours or it can be 12 hours, depending on what we are able
to achieve today.
“I appeal to everybody to show some understanding.
“We are going to discuss
dispassionately. Nothing will be hidden from anybody. The books of
government, I talked about it before– when I mean books they are
budgets– 2019/2020, we will make it bare.
“I have warned them and I have advised
them that if they come they should be prepared to present their case,
meaningfully and successfully.
“I will stay in the middle as an arbiter because that is what I am going to do in this instance.”
Also speaking, the Deputy President of the Nigerian Labour Congress, Mr Amaechi Asugwuni,
who spoke on behalf of organised labour, said that the meeting was
called by the minister to share information with labour leaders.
He said that labour had made considerable
shift on its demands from the earlier position on the consequential
adjustment of the N30, 000 minimum wage.
“We all know the consequences of delay is
never fruitful and as such organised labour has come here with open mind
in ensuring that facts are facts, also the situations are already known
to us.
“The economy is biting and as a matter of
fact, we must assist the process at this time in ensuring that we close
it earlier than needed so that we can avert the unforeseen.
“It is only when you don’t know where you are going that you will waste a lot of time doing nothing.
“The position of labour is very clear. It
gives us the signpost of what we have asked for and where we are going.
So every delay, every action taken is toward that position and we know
that you will do your best to get there.
“We believe that the Federal Government will do the needful because ours is a straight forward proposal.
“We have made our proposal to the FG before now and government is to respond. We believe that by
tomorrow, we will get the FG’s feedback and know the next thing to do.
“Labour will not tolerate anything short of reasonable adjustment in the ongoing negotiation.
“The consequential adjustment is a matter
of percentage which requires give and take principle. You state what you
want but it depends on government to see sense in your demand.
“Labour has shifted beyond expectation. What
government needs to do is to reciprocate by doing what is needful to
appreciate the workers.
“We are talking about compensation, salary
and legitimate compensation for work done. Inasmuch as we believe in
the consequential adjustment, it has to be reasonable, otherwise, people
will feel neglected.
“Tuesday’s meeting is the benchmark for
labour’s action but mobilisation continues. The meeting will tell us the
way forward because anything can happen.”
On the mobilisation for strike, Asugwuni said
that the meeting on Oct. 15 would determine everything, noting that
mobilisation was on top gear “for an industrial action from 17th
October, 2019”.
NAN recalls that labour leaders are demanding
29 per cent salary increase for workers on salary grade level 07 to 14
and 24 per cent adjustment for officers on salary grade level 15 to 17.
But the Federal Government had presented a
proposal of 11 per cent salary increase for officers on grade level 07
to14 and 6.5 per cent adjustment for workers on grade level 15 to 17. On May 14, the Federal Government inaugurated the relativity and
consequential adjustment committee, which in turn set up a technical
sub-committee to work out a template for the adjustment of salaries of
public service employees.
But government and labour have failed to reach an
agreement over relativity and consequential adjustments for the
implementation of the new wage more than six months after it was signed
into law by President Muhammadu Buhari.
In a communiqué issued on Oct. 7, labour
warned that economic activities would be shut down from Oct. 16, if the
Federal Government failed to reconvene a meeting of the committee on
consequential adjustments.
Labour, FG in final push to avert crippling strike 'Minimum Wage'
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