Ugar Ukandi Odey, Jos
The battle line has been drawn between the Governor Lalong administration and the organised labour in Plateau State over apparent manipulation of terms of earlier agreement on the implementation of the 30, 000 naira minimum wage.
Rising from an emergency meeting today, the Joint Public Service Negotiating Council decried the skewed manner government went about the implementation of the new scale during the payment of October salaries as the government became weary that the organised labour was spoiling for industrial action.
In a statement issued today and signed by its chairman, James Diwe, the JPSNC said “labour had to issue an ultimatum to the government of Plateau State to implement the new wage in October 2020 as we could not guarantee industrial peace in the state beyond that period”.
The JPSNC observed that the”government went ahead to implement a salary structure outside the agreement signed with labour” to the extent that “all existing workers allowances of salaries so far paid have been removed or reduced drastically”.
The JPSNC said further that “while labour was still understudying the haphazard payment of the October 2020 salaries, the Honourable Commissioner for Information in Plateau State, in a statement, said that the government of Plateau State has fulfilled its part by paying the minimum wage based on agreement between government and labour”, adding that “any worker who is not contented should meet the leadership of his or her Union”.
According to the JPSNC, Labour has rejected the “salary structure implemented by the Plateau State government”.
It said that “government should immediately invite labour to finish the negotiations within 72 hours beginning 12 midnight today”, or “we may not guarantee industrial peace in the state at the expiration of 72 hours”
