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NLC Chairman, Abia State, Ogbonnaya Okoro
Organised Labour in Abia State has demanded what it calls a “consequential adjustment” in the implementation of the new minimum wage.
Addressing the press after an inconclusive meeting with the state government on Wednesday, the state chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Ogbonnaya Okoro, said, “The organised Labour, comprising the NLC, TUC, and JNC, was in the Government House to continue negotiations on the consequential adjustment of the minimum wage.
“The committee set up for this assignment, along with our technical team, met with the government team this evening. On Friday last week, we submitted our template, and they told us that they would study it and invite us for another round of meetings.
“We were surprised that yesterday (Tuesday), the Commissioner for Information went on air to inform Abians that the government had approved the N70,000 minimum wage, which took us aback. We asked them which template the government used to approve the N70,000. After some time, they invited us for a meeting this evening, and here we are.
The meeting is ongoing, and we have adjourned; it will continue tomorrow (Thursday).
“We asked 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 said, “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 increased 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. In Abia, we don’t have Levels 1 and 2, but we must start from Level 1 to account for them so that we will know what other levels are due. So for now, the discussion is ongoing,” among other issues.
