Three days to the threatened mass action against
government’s increase in the price of petrol, indications emerged yesterday
that the Federal Government would meet organised labour today in Abuja over the
issue, dangling a carrot before labour leaders.
According to the Guardian, the meeting slated for 3:00 p.m.
at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, the Federal Government will
be coming to the parley with the proposal for a new minimum wage that is fixed
at N45, 000. But the increase comes with some provisos including reduction in
the number of civil servants and merging ministries and agencies. Indeed, the
President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Ayuba Wabba confirmed the scheduled
meeting saying he got a text message inviting him and other labour leaders to
the meeting.
A source close to the Presidency said ministers had been
told to lead the initiative on the downsizing. Also, the Efficiency Unit in the
Federal Ministry of Finance, which is saddled with coming up with cost
reduction strategies, is working on the template for the reduction. The Federal
Government would also be relying on the report of the Steve Oronsaiye’s panel
on the rationalization of the civil service in the streamlining process. It was
also learnt that though government said it would not devalue the naira, it
would indeed embark on what it termed ‘appropriate’ value of the national
currency, which may be in the region of N283 to the dollar.
Source: Guardian
(online)
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