There are indications that the organised labour may meet with both the federal and state governments over plans to increase workers’ allowances in the New Year without a commensurate increment in salaries in the face of rising inflation and escalating costs of goods and services.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, had on Tuesday raised the hope of public and civil servants by saying the Presidential Committee on Salaries was carrying out a review of the existing salary structures and was expected to come up with salary adjustment early in 2023 to cushion the effects of the high inflation rate in the country.
Ngige had told State House correspondents after a visit to the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), “Yes…the Presidential Committee on Salaries is working hand-in-hand with the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission. The commission is mandated by the Act establishing it to fix salaries, wages and emoluments in not only the public service.
“If you want their assistance and you are in the private sector, they will also assist you. They have what is called the template for remuneration and for compensation. So if you work, you get compensated; if you don’t work, you will not be compensated.
“So they have the matrix to do the evaluation; so they are working with the Presidential Committee on Salaries chaired by the finance minister and I’m the co-chair to look at the demands of the workers. Outside this, I said discussions on that evaluation are going.
“As we enter the New Year, the government will make some pronouncements in that direction.”
‘Only allowances’ll rise’
However, the minister recanted his earlier position on Saturday and denied saying that the Federal Government was reviewing the salaries of public and civil servants.
Ngige said the increase he alluded to was on the remunerations and emoluments of the affected workers, especially civil servants.
The minister’s denial was contained in a statement by the Head, Public Relations at the ministry, Mr Olajide Oshundun.
The statement read in part, “The attention of the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, has been drawn to the news item that the FG is reviewing salaries of public and civil servants, which was a fallout of his interaction with State House correspondents after his recent audience with Mr President.
“The minister wishes to clarify that the increase he talked about was on the remunerations and emoluments of the affected workers, especially the civil servants.”
The statement said the Presidential Committee on Salaries, through the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, had received recommendations for the review of allowances of many Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government.
“Because salary component is not being reviewed for now by the committee, it addressed the allowances component of the requests, including the peculiar allowance for Federal Civil Servants, among others,” it added.
According to the ministry, in labour parlance, remuneration or emolument is made up of salary component and earned allowance component.
It added, “Therefore, the FG through the PCS could not have engaged in the review of salaries without involving the workers through their unions, represented by these two labour federation of workers in Nigeria – the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria – salary review or renegotiation is part of social dialogue and the product is usually a collective bargaining agreement usually agreed to by both parties – employers and employees.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the minister made it clear to the press corps that it was still work in progress and that the end-product of this review of allowances would be submitted to Mr President for consideration and final approval, and that this was one of the labour issues he briefed him (Buhari) on, that day. It’s hoped that this rightful step, which the FG embarked upon on compassionate grounds without any prodding or threat to strike, will help to cushion the debilitating effects of spiralling inflation, especially that which affects food and energy prices (electricity and petroleum products).
“The minister wishes to reassure that the committee is optimistic that Mr President will receive and consider the recommendations before the end of the first quarter in 2023.”
TUC, NULGE react
Reacting to Ngige’s latest position, the Trade Union Congress called on the Federal Government to review the high cost of living and constant devaluation of the naira, which it noted had prevented civil servants from getting full value for their salaries.
The Secretary General of the TUC, Nuhu Toro, said this in an interview with one of our correspondents on Saturday.
He insisted that the Federal Government must go beyond increasing allowances, noting that the current N30,000 minimum wage was grossly inadequate to meet workers’ needs.
Toro said Ngige’s position that only allowances would be reviewed was unacceptable to the congress.
According to him, the government must do more in taming inflation and the high cost of living in the country, noting that the indices must be checked to make life meaningful for workers and Nigerians.
He stated, “The government needs to go beyond any increase to have a holistic approach to the livelihood of Nigerian workers and their families. For us in the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, it goes beyond just increasing allowances or salaries; all those things I have mentioned before needed to be addressed.
“Regulation is the responsibility of the government and again, that is why Nigerian workers, as we approach the 2023 elections, need to shine their eyes and shine them very well. The TUC is resolved to defend the rights and privileges of the common man. Whether it is review of salaries or allowances, the government must do more in controlling inflation, devaluation and the cost of goods.”
On what the ideal minimum wage should be, Toro explained that the TUC would meet to take a decision on this, adding that the National Executive Committee of the congress would convene a meeting as soon as the government rolls out modalities on the increase.
The secretary general said, “We have various organs; we have the National Executive Council, so if the council decides to have a discussion around it, certainly, a meeting will be convened immediately.
“The National Executive Council will take whatever decision they arrive at to the Central Working Committee, which will present it to the National Executive Council, which comprises chairmen of the 36 states and the FCT of the TUC. We don’t want to be more Catholic than the pope, let them roll out the modalities first and of course that will spark the immediate convocation of the meeting.
‘’He (Ngige) has said it is the minimum wage they want to review and now he is speaking from both sides of the mouth that it is allowance. Tomorrow, you may hear another story. Let them state in clear terms what they want to do and I assure you that the TUC will constitute its organs to decide its next line of action.”
He added, “It does not make any sense for the government to just come and talk about increment in allowances. We are currently battling inflation in the country. The cost of living is too high for civil servants and there is a strong need to regulate the cost of goods and services.
“Civil servants have no true value for their salaries. Most of them cannot afford good and quality healthcare. There is a need first, for the regulation of the prices of goods and services, and that is the only way Nigerian workers can have value for the little wages they receive.
“Remember, the workers toiled and suffered to create the general wealth, so it is not normal that the worker that creates the wealth is hungry. Take for instance, the N30,000 minimum wage cannot do anything. As a worker living in Abuja, if you live in Marataba, transportation alone will take everything; N1,000 per day multiplied by 30 means that N30,000 is gone. What happens to his feeding, health and school fees of his children? Automatically, there is nothing left, which means that workers only work to earn transport fare. That is not fair. It is inhuman. The TUC will not sit down and fold its arms. We will speak out.
“No allowance is enough for civil servants. No amount will be commensurate with the high cost of living. Another index is the value. Our naira has lost its value. If you go to the market with the N30,000 minimum wage, you can only buy things in a polythene bag. That is sad and pathetic. The government has an enormous role to ensure that there is value for money to ensure that workers are paid well because the government has to control the cost of goods and services, inflation, high cost of living and the devaluation of the naira. All of these are the responsibilities of the government.”
Similarly, the President, Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, Akeem Ambali, told Sunday PUNCH that the government’s position had not been communicated to the organised labour as it could not unilaterally decide on the allowances to review.
Ambali stated, “By the principle of collective bargaining, it is a tripartite arrangement. So, whatever the government has clarified has not come to the table of labour and we have not negotiated it; no partner in collective bargaining reserves the right to just unilaterally announce any review of remuneration or salaries.
“We regard what the Federal Government has said as a rumour, because labour has not been invited to the table for negotiation. We await the Federal Government’s invitation to come and negotiate on this and our negotiation will be based on what is evident – the galloping inflation trend in Nigeria and any review that worth its onion will have to be on two legs.
“Firstly, we need to look at how to arrest the galloping inflation in Nigeria because any salary review with no price control mechanism will make a waste of whatever has been done. Fuel prices cannot continue to skyrocket daily and you say you are reviewing salaries.
“The consumption rate being charged on Nigerians in terms of electricity megawatts needs to be reviewed; the bank interest rate that is very exorbitant, especially when are now talking about e-banking that everybody has to do bank transactions, which has created room for fraud and fraudulent practices in the banking sector will need to be looked at.
“Also, the issue of minimum pension will need to be looked at and we have to look at social services too.
“Our second leg of negotiation is about remuneration too; what will be the increase in the purchasing power of Nigerian workers because as of today, Nigerian workers have been highly impoverished. What we are paid is a peanut and less than $2 per day.
“It is a rumour that we received, but we know that the due process has to be followed.”
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