Fresh trouble runs through the pipeline as Nigeria’s labour union threatened on Monday to commence strike following the Federal Government’s refusal to implement the new minimum wage.
The Trade Union Side (TUS) of the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC), said it has begun mobilising its members across the federation towards preparation for the next line of action. The union side also stated that eight industrial unions in the public services of the federal and 36 states government are already in the process.
In the meantime, a meeting of the Trade Union Side officials across the country is being arranged.
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The acting Chairman of the Trade Union Side, Simon Anchaver and the Union’s Secretary, Alade Lawal, said the union may have no choice but to embark on the strike action if the current state of affairs stays the same.
“The government has a predetermined position and only called labour into rubber-stamp its hidden agenda. With this turn of event, it is quite clear now that some fifth columnists in this administration are hell-bent on pushing President Muhammadu Buhari to enter into a collision course with millions of Nigerian workers in the Public Service. This is very sad.
“It is indeed perplexing that political office holders whose monthly take-home pay runs into millions of Naira are the ones working behind the scene to ensure that public service employees especially core civil servants continue to receive starvation wages.”
New Minimum Wage: The Federal Government signed the minimum wage bill into law on Thursday, April 18, 2019. The bill specified an increase from N18,000 to N30,000 with the implementation date set for May 1st. However, May has come and gone, and the Government is yet to begin implementing the minimum wage law.
