The Federal Government and labour
unions began talks on Monday to avert a nationwide strike by workers slated for
Oct. 17.
Labour has resorted to the strike
option, after negotiation collapsed in finding 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, 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
mixed-grill meeting. That mixed-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.”
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.
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