The meeting between the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council, JNPSNC, and the Representatives of the Federal Government on Monday, again failed to reach an agreement over relativity and consequential adjustment for the implementation of the new minimum wage.
Meanwhile, JNPSNC General Secretary, Trade Union Side, Mr. Alade Lawal, has accused the Federal Government of a hidden agenda.
He said therefore that the organised labour will soon decide on the next line of action.
“The meeting is deadlocked, we found out that the Federal Government officials are not serious about it at all, we are suspecting foul play or a hidden agenda somewhere.
“We have decided to report the development to our principals, including the Labour unions, Nigerians will be adequately briefed of our next line of action very shortly,” Lawal said.
Speaking along the same lines, Chairman of the Labour team, Mr. Simon Anchaver, also disclosed that the labour negotiating team had decided to write to the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress, TUC on their advice to consider an industrial action.
According to him, government’s deliberate delay in implementing the new minimum wage was an invitation for industrial action.
He said workers were already afraid and agitated over whether their accumulated arrears would be paid when talks were finally concluded.
The meeting was chaired by the Head of Service, Winifred Oyo-Ita, while the acting Chairman, National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission was the Secretary of the negotiating council.
Recall that the new minimum wage bill was signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari in April.
However, negotiations on the issue of relativity and consequential adjustment of salaries have remained unresolved stalling the implementation of the new wages.
The Federal Government had on May 14 inaugurated the relativity/Consequential Adjustment Committee which in turn set up a Technical Sub-Committee to work out the template for the adjustment of salaries of Public Service Employees.
At a meeting between the government and labour in August, government proposed a 10 per cent increment for level seven to 14 and a 5.5 per cent increment for level 15 to 17.
But labour turned down government’s offer, proposing 30 per cent increase for levels seven to 14 and 25 per cent for levels 15 to 17.
The JNPSNC on its part declined the offer, saying that since the increase in wage from N18, 000 to N30, 000 was 66 per cent, they wanted 66 per cent increment across board for all workers.
