Workers now paid N30,000 wage, says Ngige

Junior workers in the employment of the Federal Government have started receiving the N30,000 minimum wage, Minister of Labour, Chris Ngige, said at the weekend.

Ngige, who spoke in Enugu, said the payment to levels 1 to 6 commenced last month.

His claim was corroborated by the National President of the Nigeria Civil Service Union (NCSU) and a member of the Joint Public Service Negotiating Council, Mr. Lawrence Amaechi.

According to Amaechi, the junior workers received the new wage as their August salary.

The minister dismissed the claim by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) that the Federal Government was reluctant to pay the new minimum wage, which was signed into law in April by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The minister said the only issue at stake was the executive cadre of Grades level 7 to 17, which required consequential adjustment that is still being negotiated.

Ngige told TheNation that: “The major hurdle in the minimum wage issue has been crossed. We have crossed the rubicon and the rubicon was getting a new rate for the minimum wage. And the minimum wage is the lowest remuneration paid as compensation to a worker for his services and this is for the least paid worker in Nigeria.

“It is for those on lowest rung of the payment ladder. And in the public service, it is for the workers on Grade Level 1 Step 1. We moved it from N18, 000 as in the old Act to N30, 000. To me, that was the major crossing of the rubicon.

“When you do that, there is what is called consequential adjustment upstairs because you have by moving N18, 000 to N30, 000 crossed some salary grade levels and surpassed them.

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“Therefore, you must get those people that you have crossed and passed to a higher level than N30, 000, which the lowest person now is earning. So, that is the history of the consequential adjustment.

Ngige explains how workers are paid

“And when you also do that for the lower level, Grade Level 1 to Grade Level 6, the executive cadre, which starts from Grade Level 7 to 17, you must also give them a consequential movement, so that they will have a feel that their subordinates have moved up to make them, because some people now in Level 6 now move into old Level 10 salary structure by the new minimum wage adjustment.

“So, you see now that this is something you must do across board, consequentially. But, will the rates be the same? No. From Grade Level 1, anything you are doing there is consequential and must be done through negotiation or what we call in labour parlance, collective bargaining.

“And once you do collective bargaining and agree on something, it is what you call Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). So, it is the collective bargaining that is now done for consequential adjustment.

“Labour knows that, in consequential adjustments and even in collective bargaining, there are cardinal principles guiding CBA and part of the principles guiding CBA is ability of employers to pay, because there is no need for employer going to agree on something he cannot pay and tomorrow, you are back to the negotiating table. So, that is what is there.

“Unfortunately for government, after the agreement was signed into law by the President on April 18, by May 29, the cabinet was dissolved. So, the committee of government, government side negotiation was cancelled.

“The members were the Ministers of Finance, Budget & National Planning; Labour, Head of Service of the Federation and the Secretary to Federal Government (SGF).

“Everybody, except the Head of Service, was dissolved by implications. So, permanent secretaries by implications moved in to fill the gaps. And they were the people who started negotiating with the Joint Negotiating Council of Labour, because we have what is called Joint Negotiating Council (JNC), that is a public service council.

“This is because what we are now talking about are workers in the public service, not workers in the private sector. The private sector workers are supposed to do their own negotiation with their employers. But, negotiation with government workers, because public service is government, is what is now going on and which is stalemated.