The organised Labour and the Federal Government have finally reached an agreement on the percentage increase in workers’ salaries as a result of the new N30,000 minimum wage.
The agreement reached on Thursday Oct 17, at the end of a delicate negotiation which lasted for 3 days include an increase of 23.2 percent for workers on level 7, a 20 percent increase for workers on level 8 and a 19 percent increase for workers on level 9. Workers on level 10- 14 will be getting a 16 percent salary increase while workers on level 15-17 will get a 14 percent increase.
Nigeria’s Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo who confirmed that both parties have reached an agreement via a tweet, added that they are working on the communique.
The tweet read, “After some delicate negotiations (with both ministers as conciliators), the government and labour have finally reached an agreement on the consequential adjustment of other wages following the implementation of the enhanced minimum wage of N30,000. We are working on the communiqué.”
Also confirming the agreement reached at the end of the negotiation, the President of the Trade Union Congress, Quadri, and its Secretary General, Musa-Lawal Ozigi said that the government could not afford to meet their earlier demand of N30,000 minimum wage, hence the agreement on percentage increase.
Their statement read, “We commend the Head of Service of the Federation, Dr Folashade Yemi-Esan, and her team for their sincerity. Though they argued that the government could not afford to meet our earlier demand of N30,000 minimum wage across board because of the economic situation in the country, we made them understand that some people could not be more Nigerian than others. If we are tightening our belts, government should also do so.”