Minimum wage: Industrial crisis looms in public service

The Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC) has called on Nigerians to appeal to the Federal Government to implement the new minimum wage with adequate consequential adjustments to avoid the looming industrial crisis.

The organised labour under the auspices of the Trade Union Side (TUS) of the council made the call on Tuesday following failure to reach an agreement with the government over non-implementation.

The TUS Acting Chairman, Mr Anchaver Simon, and Secretary, Mr Alade Lawal, said in a statement that efforts by the unions to persuade government to implement the new minimum wage with appropriate consequential adjustment had proved abortive.

They said that the TUS had given the government enough time to come to term with workers’demand but appeared that the only language necessary for government to act is strike.

They said the union would give no further notice to the government before public servants in the state commence strike over non-implementation of the new minimum wage and appropriate consequential adjustment.

“It has become imperative to alert the general public that all efforts by the Trade Unions to persuade the government to implement the new N30,000 monthly National Minimum Wage signed into Law by President Muhammadu Buhari on April 18, 2019 with appropriate consequential adjustment, had been frustrated by government,” they said.

They said that the Consequential Adjustment Committee had on Sept. 3 agreed that the proposal of the TUS be forwarded to the president to see the patriotic position of labour and approve appropriate consequential adjustment accordingly.

“When the meeting reconvened on Sept. 16, 2019 to get a feedback on the expected approval from the president, government officials brought a fresh proposal of 11 per cent pay rise for officers on Grade Levels 07 to 14 instead of the earlier position of 10 per cent and 6.5 per cent for those on grade levels 15 to 17 instead of the former 5.5 per cent.

“As we write, Nigeria is rated the poorest country in the whole world and yet government is refusing to implement a minimum wage for Nigerian workers to lift millions of citizens out of poverty,” the union said.

Meanwhile, the TUS stated that the Trade Union Congress of Nigerian and the Nigeria Labour Congress had been briefed on the breakdown of negotiation in respect of consequential adjustment arising from the new N30,000 monthly National Minimum Wage.

It was reported that the new minimum wage bill was signed into law by the president on April 18.

However, deliberations continued as the issue of relativity/consequential adjustment of salaries still persisted.