Winifred Oyo-Ita, head of the
civil service of the federation, says the delay in the implementation of the
new minimum wage is as a result of unrealistic demands by labour unions.
She made this known while
speaking with journalists at the opening ceremony of a retreat on 2017-2020
federal civil service strategy and implementation plan in Abuja.
The event was organised by the
office of the head of the civil service of the federation.
President Muhammadu Buhari signed
the national minimum wage bill into law in April, after which he inaugurated a
committee for its implementation.
However, negotiation between the
federal government and the joint national public negotiation council broke down
two weeks ago over differences in percentage increase in the salaries of
workers.
The federal government’s
representatives in the technical committee had reportedly proposed 9.5 percent
salary increase for workers on grade levels 07 to 14 and five percent increase
for employees on grade levels 15 to 17, labour representatives demanded 30
percent salary increase for workers on grade levels seven to 14 and 25 percent
for workers on grade levels 15 to 17.
Oyo-Ita said the committee will
seek the approval of the president on the implementation of the new minimum
wage, while negotiation among the committee members continues.
“President Buhari is keen on the
implementation of new Minimum Wage and that is why the committee set up on the
consequential adjustment arising from the new Minimum Wage has been meeting
unions within labour union and public service to arrive at a consequential
adjustment,” she said.
“There were a few not very
realistic demands from the unions and so as not to continue delaying the
implementation of the well thought out and dear policy of the President, we
have to go ahead and seek his approval for the implementation while we continue
discussion on the consequential adjustment.”
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