The organised Labour has given serious indications of an impending strike if the President doesn’t intervene personally in the looming labour crisis.
This is coming on the heels of a perceived breech of agreement in the agreed minimum wage of 30,000 Naira for lowest cader workers. Labour says it foresee some consequential adjustments meant to be effected on the agreed wage for its members across the country.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, had told newsmen in Enugu that the Federal Government in its magnanimity has commenced partial payment of the N30,000 minimum wage to its workers on salary levels one to six.
The minister expressed concerns of a looming danger of unemployment which he says if not nipped in the bud by the various tiers of government could result in a dire situation.
In trying to get the reactions of the labour union, our sources in an interview with the
Secretary to the Trade Union Side, TUS, of the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council, JNPSNC, Alade Bashir Lawal, confirmed that they have been consulting with various organs of various public sector unions and civil societies and other sister organizations for synergy.
According to mr Lawal who also doubles as the Secretary-General of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, ASCSN, disclosed that various steps are on top gear in garnering more support for the nation wide strike. Lawal expressed disappointment in some of the members of the government side of the JNPSNC of having ulterior motives and added that some of them are not sincerely working for President Buhari.
Recall that last week, Organised Labour had directed civil servants to prepare for a nationwide strike, saying it had become clear that the government side was not serious about paying millions of workers a new National Minimum Wage and adequate consequential adjustment but preferred taking the trade unions for a ride.
According to Lawal: “Before last meeting, our position was that from levels 7 to 14, it should be 29 per cent and then, from levels 15 to 17, 24 per cent . That was our position. The government delegation’s position before that meeting was 10 per cent for levels 7 to 14, and 5.5 per cent for levels 15 to 17″.
“Then, we agreed that since the two sides were not shifting grounds, that the government side should go and present the scenario to Mr. President. It was our belief that it was possible that when Mr President sees the difference between the two sides, he will be able to appreciate what Labour was saying”.
“For us, it is Mr. President that sends you (government negotiating team) on the errand, go back and report to him. When we reconvened, we knew there was a booby trap somewhere. It was obvious that they did not report back to Mr. President”.
“The next thing was that they started manipulating the minutes to reflect that such decision was not taken. It was very frightening and annoying. The former head of service was the one that chaired the meeting”.
“I told her that the government side’s action is very frightening and that some of us are afraid of what will happen because they are just manipulating the system to suit the fancy of some individuals, unknown to the person that sent them”.
“They just marginally touched what they presented before. They said from level 7 to 14, BBB instead of 10 per cent, they can make it 11 per cent, and instead of 5.5 per cent for level 15 to 17, they will make it 6.5 per cent. It is like we are pricing crayfish in the market”.
“It is very unfortunate. We told them that we were going back to report to those that sent us. We have reported and they said we should go on strike. We are mobilizing, we are organising the mobilization and soon, we will do what we know best to achieve result”.
“For those below level 7, they were not earning up to the new minimum wage. Theirs were not so difficult. From day one, we have adjusted that. We felt that we should complete the whole process before they issue circular”.
“But the former Head of Service decided on her own to issue a circular for levels 1 to 6. It was a unilateral decision which did not get the blessing of Labour. We told her that she was destroying the civil service and that this was not what she met and that history would be told of the misdemeanour some of you have done to the civil service”.
“At the stage, we are saying it’s only the personal intervention of Mr. President that can stop the planned strike.”
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, told our sources over the weekend in Enugu when an award was conferred on him by his alma mater, the college of medicine, University of Nigeria, Nsukka that the Federal Government has commenced partial implementation of the N30, 000 minimum wage to its workers on salary levels one to six. He added that a committee will be constituted this week to commence the final rounds of negotiations for levels 7 and above.
“For Grade Level 1, step 1 to Grade Level 6, there is a partial agreement already and the consequential adjustment has been worked out and the Federal Government has paid the August salary based on the minimum wage”.
“August salary has been paid; that is the report Accountant-General gave us in a meeting. So, categorically, government has started partial implementation of minimum wage but if you like, they have started implementation of minimum wage”
“They have started applying the minimum wage payment. So, they have paid in August. They are going to pay in September with arrears spanning from April to workers in this category that I have told you.
“As for workers from Grade Level 7 to 17, their negotiation with the committee of Permanent Secretaries, representing us, has hit the rocks. We, as government, are going to reconstitute the committee and engage them.
“So, they should not be issuing threats of strike because they know that government has not settled down; they know it. They have not seen my face in any of their negotiations because I have not got any briefing from those who were in the committee before us.
“They have to give us a handover note of where they stopped in the negotiation. That is how government functions and then, we take it from there. They have not done a formal handover.
“We are going to reconstitute a committee next week and the old committee will do a handover. I can assure you that we will speedily negotiate with labour, the JNC”.
“So, it is not good for them to say government is dragging its feet. They know the problem. They know government has not settled down. So, that is the situation. But for those on Grade Level 1 to Grade Level 6, they will get the consequential adjustment and arrears with their main salary for September by the end of this month.”
The minister was very optimistic affirming that government is moving in the right direction in arriving at the Present minimum wage rate.
“To me, that was the major crossing of the Rubicon; when you do that, there is what is called consequential adjustment because you have, by moving from N18,000 to N30,000, crossed some salary grade levels and surpassed them”.
“Therefore, you must get those people that you have crossed and passed to a higher level than N30, 000, which the lowest person is now earning. So, that is the history of the consequential adjustment”.
“When you do that for the lower level, grade level 1 to grade level 6, for the executive cadre which starts from grade level 7 to 17, you must also give them a consequential movement so they will not have a feeling that their subordinates have moved up to meet them”.
“This is because some people now in level 6 have moved into old level 10 salary structure by the new minimum wage adjustment. So, you see now that this is something you must do across board, consequentially”.
“But will the rates be the same? No. From grade level 1, anything you are doing there is consequential and must be done through negotiation or what we call in Labour parlance, collective bargaining”.
“Once you do collective bargaining and agree on something, it is what you call Collective Bargaining Agreement, CBA. So, it is the collective bargaining that is now done for consequential”. adjustment.
“Labour knows that in consequential adjustments and even in collective bargaining, there are cardinal principles guiding CBA and part of the principles guiding CBA is ability of employers to pay, because there is no need for an employer to agree on something he cannot pay and tomorrow, you are back to the negotiating table”.
“Unfortunately for government, after the agreement was signed into law by the President on April 18, the cabinet was dissolved by May 29. So, the committee of government side of the negotiation, was canceled,” Ngige added.
The minister was unequivocal in spelling out the ungly dimension unemployment had taken. According to the minister, the signs are already manifesting and government is seriously worried and trying to fashion out a solution to the problem.
” It is already showing, when you are in traffic, people knock on your car window to ask you to give them your phone. If you don’t give them, they will attack you. That is the big malaise. One day, they will stop people from eating in their houses. They will knock and say, bring your food and let us share it”.
“The symptoms are there. Boko Haram is a symptom of unemployment in Nigeria. IPOB is a symptom of unemployment. There is desperation and people are getting frustrated. Same goes for banditry in the North-West”.
“Same goes for kidnapping all over the country — North-West, North-East, North-Central, South-East, South-South and South- West; Avengers, the destruction of pipelines, OPC, are all symptoms of very serious underlying disease condition called unemployment”.
“We don’t want it to get to that. We have tried as a country. We were on the same pedestal with Venezuela. We were lucky President Muhammadu Buhari came in; if not, we will be on the same scale with Venezuela”.
“We would have all dispersed into neighbouring countries. We would have had social unrest that would be internecine and by now, we would not have solved it. So, we are on with our thinking caps. We are bringing everything we have on the table to see how we can check it”.
“So, government for the next level will fashion out ways and means to deal with unemployment. We are doing something but I think what we are doing is not enough. Government has used diversification into agriculture to fight unemployment. Yes, it was successful”.
“We have also used ad-hoc procedures like empowerment programmes. It is like a drop of water in the ocean. We have employed through that process 500,000 people, about half a million. But we have those searching for white collar jobs in the neighbourhood of about 15 million.
“So, we have to do something to teach people new vocations, new skills, to ensure that everybody is not going for white collar jobs. Even if you have a university degree, you can be taught some skills so that you employ yourself or even get employed somehow.
“So, we are going to do that; it is on the table. All arsenals, everything will be put into place, so that we can fight unemployment. Otherwise, it will consume everybody. It will consume me and you, pressmen.
“Even FEC in the last council, reiterated that any contract for construction, infrastructure development will have to indicate the quantum of new jobs to be created by doing so. There are other things we are doing as government to see how we can ameliorate the situation.”
© Control TV 2019
