The Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council has ordered its state councils to begin negotiations for consequential adjustment and implementation of the new minimum wage.
It was reported that after the Federal Government agreed on consequential adjustments and percentage increase for workers in the Federal civil service with organised labour. On October 18th, the joint negotiating council in each state is expected to open negotiation with its state government. However, state governments under the auspices of the Nigeria Governors Forum, had said that they would only pay according to the financial standing of their respective states.
The Council’s Chairman Simon Anchaver at a meeting in Abuja noted that the Union has also given state governors December 31st, as deadline for implementation of the new minimum wage.
According to the chairman, the Union had adopted the deregulated collective bargaining style to ensure that state governments also negotiate what they can afford, so long as it was not lower than the 30 thousand naira benchmark.
Also, the Council’s Secretary-General Alade Lawal noted that the Union had agreed with its state councils to start sending out letters to state governments, saying negotiations ought to start upon receipt of such letter.
