Adaobi Rhema Oguejiofor
The Government of Oyo State has set up a committee in order to review the minimum wage of workers in the State as a result of the present realities, which include fuel and transport hikes, following the removal of fuel subsidy by the Federal Government.
The Committee was established on Monday, during a meeting that took place at the Executive Council Chambers of the Governor’s Office in Ibadan. The meeting was held in order to review the minimum wage of workers.
The Governor of the State, Seyi Makinde, who presided over the meeting, called on labour leaders to show understanding concerning the peculiarity of events in Oyo. The labour unions, comprising of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) were led to the meeting by their State Chairmen, Comrade Kayode Martins and Comrade Bosun Olabiyi respectively.
Makinde commended the Unions for their support and commitment as they enabled his second term in office, saying that there is no trust deficit between the government and labour leaders in the State. He added that whatever is happening at the national level would not create any trust deficit at the state level.
According to him, although the State government may not have control over the issue of fuel subsidy removal at the national level, it could control how things are done within the state.
In his own words, “yes, the fuel subsidy removal is going to affect all of us, but we have control over certain things in Oyo State and one of them is to be proactive in order to engage ourselves. They may call for a strike at the national level or even any other actions but the Labour leaders in Oyo State must be aware of our own situation and they must consider the peculiarity of the situation. They must appreciate the fact that our economy is so fragile.”
The Oyo State Chairman of NLC, Comrade Kayode Martins, disclosed that the meeting was called in order to review the salary of workers in the State and that the Labour leaders also used the opportunity to talk about some other issues and challenges that workers in the State are faced with.
His words, “today’s meeting is to reach an agreement and we want to enter into a collective bargaining as to what will be the minimum wage in Oyo State. We want to be different from others and we want to be ahead.”
The committee to review the minimum wage is made up of selected government and labour officials. The government team includes the Chief of Staff to the Governor, the Secretary of the State Government (SSG), the State Head of Service, the Special Adviser on Labour Matters, commissioners, and permanent secretaries, among others.
The team from the side of the organized labour includes NLC, the Joint Negotiation Council (JNC), the Nigeria Union of Local Government Workers (NULGE), the Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP), and the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU), among others.
