35% Salary Increase Not Minimum Wage — Labour, Says No Minimum Wage By End Of May, No Peace’ – Labour warns Nigerian Government  * Tinubu govt maltreating Nigerian workers – Atiku 

By  Omowumi Omotosho

The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, ASCSN, has clarified that the 25 per cent and 35 per cent increase in workers’ salaries announced by the federal government is not the minimum wage.

The president of the association, Mr Tommy Okon, clarified while fielding questions from newsmen on Wednesday in Abuja.

Okon, who is also the Vice President of the Trade Union Congress, TUC, said that the approval of the salary increase was to close the salary gap that existed in some ministries, departments and agencies.

“Other sectors have benefitted from these increases; it is only the core Federal Civil Service. So, it is a good development, no doubt, but the people need to be informed.

“Some even saw it as if the government had ambushed the labour unions and then come out unilaterally to increase the minimum wage to that amount. Whereas, it is not the minimum wage.

“The minimum wage is ongoing, what the government did was to correct some gaps that existed among the pay of those in those sectors listed,” he said.

Okon said the clarification was important for the generality of workers and the masses at large because the salary increase was to bridge the wage gap in the civil service.

NAN reported that the Federal Government on Tuesday announced an increase of between 25 per cent and 35 per cent in the salary of civil servants on the remaining six consolidated salary structures.

They included Consolidated Public Service Salary Structure, CONPSS, Consolidated Research and Allied Institutions Salary Structure, CONRAISS and Consolidated Police Salary Structure, CONPOSS.

Others were Consolidated Para-military Salary Structure, CONPASS, Consolidated Intelligence Community Salary Structure, CONICCS and Consolidated Armed Forces Salary Structure, CONAFSS

Meanwhile, the Organised Labour has given the Federal Government till May ending to finalise the process of implementing the new national minimum wage for workers.

The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Mr Joe Ajaero, made the demand on Wednesday in Abuja at the 2024 edition of the International Workers Day.

The labour leader warned that if the negotiation is not concluded by the ending of May, there may not be industrial peace in Nigeria.

Ajaero said the process of fixing a new national minimum wage was still ongoing and had witnessed robust engagements.

“All parties in the tripartite process are well represented and the engagement has been robust.

“We have placed our demand of N615, 000 only before our social partners while we await their offer.

“If, however, the negotiation of the minimum wage is not concluded by the end of May, the trade union movement in Nigeria will no longer guarantee industrial peace in the country,” he said.

Ajaero also said labour had placed a demand that the new Act would have a two-year life span with an agreement for automatic adjustments in wages any time inflation exceeded 7.5 per cent.

He said the union further demanded that every employer with up to five workers should pay the new minimum wage.

Ajaero called for the strengthening of monitoring and compliance mechanisms in order to penalise non-complying state governments.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has however said the Nigerian workers have had it so rough under the President Bola Tinubu-led administration.

According to him, no administration in the nation’s history has trampled upon workers’ rights like the current one, adding that workers, daily, face uncertainty over skyrocketing prices of essential goods.

Atiku said it was unfortunate that while the living conditions of the Nigerian worker remain at a miserably low ebb, the Nigerian government continues to entertain its international audiences with tales of how the masses are being weaned of their wasteful dependence on government.

In a post on his X handle on Wednesday, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate in the last general election said it is a sobering truth that the plight of the Nigerian worker remains dire.

He said: “As Nigerian workers join their counterparts across the world today to celebrate International Workers Day, it is a sobering truth that the plight of the Nigerian worker remains dire.

“Despite prolonged pledges and flowery words by the government, the much talked-about prospects of wage increments for the Nigerian worker remain a mirage. Every dawn unveils renewed hardships and harsh living conditions.

“After the contraction and contradictions by the government about whether the subsidy regime has gone or it is still being implemented, the country is today facing the angst of frustration by Nigerians who waste precious man-hours in queues at petrol stations across the country.

“The petrol subsidy is purportedly gone; yet its impact lingers – revealing the ineptitude of the current federal government.

“In an unprecedented manner and condescending of both the Nigerian worker and the general public, this current federal government announced a unilateral removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit without consultations with representatives of the Nigerian worker.

“The continued increase in tariffs in different service offerings without addressing the corruption and inefficiencies in the system only amounts to long-suffering Nigerians subsidising the corruption and inefficiencies in the system.

“Since the days of legendary, Pa. Michael Imoudu, to later day fire brands such as Pascal Bafyau and Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, the Nigerian worker has been at the forefront of the fight against tyranny and bad governance.

“No administration in our history has trampled workers’ rights like this one. Daily, workers face uncertainty over the skyrocketing prices of essential goods.

“The Nigerian worker has had it so rough under this current administration and it is unfortunate that while the living conditions of the Nigerian worker remain at a miserably low ebb, the Nigerian government continues to regale its international audiences with tales of how the masses are being weaned of their wasteful dependence on government.

“It is thus beginning to appear, that as far as the current federal government is concerned, the management of our country’s micro-economic outlook is an unwieldy laboratory experiment, to which the Nigerian worker is laid prostrate.

“While I cannot but share my sympathy with the Nigerian worker for the way the current government has ridiculed her for far too long, I must equally express my felicitations with the Nigerian worker on this year’s Workers Day.

“It is my hope that the theme of this year’s Labour Day: Ensuring Safety and Health at Work In a Changing Climate, will inspire the Nigerian government to put the concerns of the Nigerian worker on the front burner.