By Gbenga Sodeinde
The National leadership of joint Public Service Negotiations Council (JPSNC) Trade Union side has called on the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Mohammodu Buhari to review allowances of workers in the Public Service in view of the prevailing economic situations in the country.
Though, the JNC National leadership, on behalf of the entire workers commended the President of the country for his doggedness and pragmatic efforts put in place in handling the affairs of the country in the face of daunting challenges as well as the approval for the upward review of the New national minimum wage from Eighteen thousand to Thirty thousand naira (N18,000 to N30.000) in 2019.
However, as contained in a letter addressed to the President through the Head of Service of the Federation entitled” urgent need for upward review of allowances to entire workers in the Public Service”, the NJC called for urgent need for upward review of their allowances.
These includes; Housing,Transport, Medical, and Utility Allowances, as well as Reinstatement of disengaged workers among others.
The letter dated 5th July 2022 was duly signed by both the National Chairperson joint Public Service Negotiations Council Comrade Benjamin Anthony and the National Secretary Comrade Bomoi Mohammed ibraheem.
The group pointed out that between 2019 and now, tons of events have taken over some of which have eroded the value of N30,000 minimum wage such as the inflationary rate in the country occasioned by multiple increases in exchange rate from N150.00 in 2014 to the current rate of N615.00 to a dollar; adding that this has impacted negatively in the cost of living condition and thereby impoverished workers in the Public Service.
” The current level of insecurity has further worsened the situation as some workers who used to engage in farming and other menial activities to make ends meet no longer do so” JNC lamented.
The JNC national leadership said that “the Council believes that despite the identified challenges, the economy generally is still growing well and the price of oil has shot up over the last year”
“A pointer is International Monetary Fund (IMF) report on Nigeria in February 2022 after recession neccessitated by the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020 the real value of the economy increased by around 2.6% a year; that is doubling of the actual six of the economy in less than twenty years, this is the same amount that the minimum wage increased over the last eleven (11years) as everyone knows that we are getting poorer as workers”
In view of the above mentioned, the National joint Public Service Negotiations Council JPSNC Trade Union submitted at its meeting held on Friday 24th June 2022 resolved among other issues to that the review of the aforementioned allowances would go a long way to alleviate the excruciating effects of the present economic challenges faced by the workers and further boost their productivity for National development.