Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Minimum wage: NACCIMA denies accepting N30,000, insists on N22,000


…Governors agree on N22,500
By Henry Umoru & Johnbosco Agbakwuru
ABUJA—Nigerian Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, NACCIMA, yesterday, dissociated itself from claims by organised labour that the Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage agreed on N30,000.

NLC NACCIMA said it only agreed to pay N22,000, adding that even when the Federal Government proposed N24,000, it was not comfortable with it.
Consequently, NACCIMA has written to chairman of the Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage Negotiation Committee, Ms Ama Pepple, denying ever accepting to pay N30,000 as the new minimum wage.
The letter addressed to Ms. Pepple, and signed by Dr. M. F. Dankaka, President, Kaduna Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture and representative of NACCIMA in the tripartite committee, read:  “We refer to the media reports on the above stated national minimum wage figure and the proposed industrial actions by organised labour over a misconceived ‘agreement’ on the sum of N30,000 as the new minimum wage for Nigerian workers.
“We were perplexed to learn that the sum/agreement was an outcome of the workings of the Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage, which we are a member.
We can’t pay new minimum wage – GOVS
‘’At no time did NACCIMA agree to such a figure. Rather, the last figure offered by us as part of the organised private sector, OPS, was N22,000 and negotiation was still ongoing for the meeting to arrive at a consensus and not by moving a motion.

“We did not also authorise the representatives of Nigeria Employers Consultative Association, NECA, and Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, to speak on our behalf. Recall that our members constitute about 50 percent of the employers in the OPS.
‘’Conversely, we do not want to speak for the thousands of employers in the informal economy whose voices have not been heard.”
NGF agrees on N22,500
Vanguard reliably gathered that Nigeria Governors Forum, NGF, had at its meeting yesterday, agreed to pay N22,500, insisting that the N24,000 proposal by the Federal Government was high.
It was further gathered that the government was contemplating stepping up the amount to ensure harmonious relationship with the workers.
At press time, NGF was still meeting at its headquarters in Abuja to conclude and agree on an acceptable figure.
The NGF was expected to meet with Economic Management Team, EMT, chaired by the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, by 8pm yesterday on its final resolution.
No work, no pay policy: NLC threatens to report FG to ILO
Recall that organised labour has threatened to embark on an indefinite nationwide strike with effect from November 6, unless the government accepted and commenced payment of the negotiated N30, 000.
It claimed that the Tripartite Committee on the National Minimum Wage had since completed its assignment for onward submission of its report to President Muhammadu Buhari.
But the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, had said that the Tripartite Committee on New National Minimum Wage was yet to conclude negotiation on the agreed figure.
Source: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/10/minimum-wage-naccima-denies-accepting-n30000-insists-on-n22000/

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