The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) leadership have warned the federal government that they should do the needful to save the country from the verge of industrial action.
The statement was contained in a correspondence written to the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha by the duo intimating him of eminent industrial action over stalemate of the negotiation on the consequential adjustment of salaries to implement the new minimum wage of N30,000.
Recall that the meeting of the consequential negotiating committee ended in a deadlocked earlier this month following what the labour side of the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council claimed that “the Government side only arranged to pay peanuts to workers as adjustment under the pretext that it will soon be undertaking general salary review in the Public Service.”
Contained in the petition from NLC and his TUC counterpart Ayuba Wabba, and Quadri Olaleye, respectively, the labour leaders urged the SGF to save the nation from an eminent industrial action by doing the right thing “through ensuring that the meeting of the Committee is reconvened with NLC and TUC.”
The petition read in part: “We bring to you the warm compliments of the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress as well as wish to refer you to the letter of the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council dated 16/07/19 and referenced JNPSNC/TUS/VOL.V/402 on the stalemated discussion between the Council and Government on the relativity/consequential adjustment of salaries arising from the national minimum wage of N30,000 per month. We wish to express our concern and dismay about this needless stalemate.
“We would wish to commence this letter first by commending Mr President for setting up this committee in which we all had the confidence a thorough work out of the modalities for relativity and any other consequential effect that may arise from the new national minimum wage be treated with speedy action. Our optimism was hinged on the fact that this would not be the first time we would be having this type of committee.
However, "We are worried by this stalemate, and must, in all honesty, point out that what the government is offering is far too small to be acceptable. We recall that in the immediate past exercise, 53 per cent relativity was used across the board. The resort therefore to unnecessary inflexibility by the government’s team is neither helpful nor reflective of precedence.”
