Organised Labour in Abia State dey demand what dem call “consequential adjustment” in the implementation of the new minimum wage of N70,000. Dis demand come after an inconclusive meeting with the state government on Wednesday.
The state chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Ogbonnaya Okoro, address the press after the meeting and explain say the organised Labour, comprising the NLC, TUC, and JNC, been dey negotiate on the consequential adjustment of the minimum wage. Okoro say, “The committee we set up for dis assignment, along with our technical team, meet with the government team this evening. On Friday last week, we submit our template, and dem tell us say dem go study am and invite us for another round of meetings.”
Okoro add say dem were surprised when the Commissioner for Information announce on air say the government had approved the N70,000 minimum wage without using any template. He say, “We ask dem which template the government use to approve the N70,000. After some time, dem invite us for a meeting this evening, and here we are.”
The meeting, which is ongoing, has been adjourned to continue on Thursday. Okoro emphasize say, “We ask the government side to produce their template since organised Labour has submitted its own so that the consequential adjustment negotiating team will bring theirs and the government will bring theirs, and we will disagree to agree. At the end of the day, we will establish a template that all parties will agree to, which will form a circular for the Abia State Government.”
When asked about the nature of the consequential adjustment or the template produced by the union, Okoro explain say, “The N70,000 is a law, and that is for Level 1, Step 1, and it is sacrosanct. You don’t touch or go below it; instead, you increase it. Rivers State increase their minimum wage to N75,000; Cross River, N80,000; but the minimum you can approve is N70,000…. “When we talk about consequential adjustment, it concerns people from Grade Level 1, 2, up to Grade 17, and so forth. There are percentages involved in working out these modalities for everyone.”
