The meeting between the Federal Government and the Joint National Public Service Negotiation Council (JNPSNC) over the N30,000 minimum wage has ended in a deadlock.
The minimum wage had been signed into law on April 18, 2019, by President Muhammadu Buhari but earlier negotiations between JNPSNC and the Federal Government had broken down.
The Federal Government is proposing a 9.5% salary increase for workers on grade levels 7 to 14 and 5% for grade levels 15 to 17. But the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria are demanding 30% increase for officers on grade levels 7 to 14 and 25% increase for grade levels 15 to 17.
A Labour source said: “We have discovered that the government is not serious at all; a mandate was given to the government side to take the position of labour and government’s team to President Muhammadu Buhari and report back at the meeting. But we discovered that they didn’t do it; they are just taking us for a ride. So, we are reporting that the meeting was deadlocked and our next line of action will be to report to our parent unions”.
The Secretary of the JNPSNC, Alade Lawal, also speaking on the issue, said Nigerians would be informed on the next step to take.
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. So, we have decided to report the development to our principals, including the labour unions. Nigerians will be adequately briefed on our next line of action very shortly. Alade Lawal – punchng.com
