Minimum Wage: Again, FG, Labour in closed-door meeting

The meeting is the latest in a series of meetings with labour leaders to commence the payment of the consequential adjustment in the new minimum wage, signed into law by president Muhammadu Buhari on April 18.

The leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress and the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council are participating in the latest meeting with Ngige.

On October 7, labour leaders issued a communiqué, warning that economic activities would be shut down on October 16, if the Federal Government failed to reconvene a meeting of the committee on consequential adjustments.

He said the partial implementation of the minimum wage for levels one to six was a ‘divide-and-rule’ system that would be vehemently opposed by labour.

“As far as I am concerned, nothing has been implemented. What are they implementing? We are negotiating something and somebody went behind to start issuing one circular.

“As far as we are concerned, nothing has been done and if you want to look at it, levels one to three has been outsourced.

How many people are there? So when you even look at the circular, it is full of errors. As far as we are concerned, no circular has been issued.

“You have a salary structure, you have a ratio between the minimum and the maximum. When the minimum was 18,000, you have what you have at the maximum, then you have tilted the minimum to 30,000, are you going to leave the table there?

“It is distortion. You don’t allow distortion and it’s not allowed anywhere in the world. That is why you do consequential adjustment,’’ he argued.

Lawal pointed out that organised labour was not opposed to discussion or consultations.

He said that what was worrisome was the delay in reconvening the meeting of the committee on consequential adjustment.