Trade Union of Congress (TUC), Oyo State council, has reacted to the composition of the minimum wage negotiation committee constituted by the Governor Seyi Makinde-led administration.
The chairman of the union, Comrade Bosun Olabiyi, and the secretary, Comrade Babatunde Balogun, said they rejected the move due to the insistence of the representative of the government to choose and impose a representative for them.
The union disclosed that it was not officially informed about the setting up of the committee and date for the commencement of minimum wage negotiation in the state.
“We the Trade Union of Congress, Oyo State council, has rejected the composition of the minimum wage negotiation committee in Oyo State due to the insistence of the representative of the government to choose and impose our representative for us.
“We believe this negates the basic principle of negotiation and rules of engagement.
“We were informed through the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), one of our affiliate unions, of a letter in circulation about the setting up of a committee and a date for the commencement of minimum wage negotiation in the state.
“TUC, the umbrella body and a major stakeholder in the exercise, wishes to make it very clear that we do not know anything about any committee and we believe we will be consulted properly concerning our representation in the committee before negotiation commences.
“After exhaustive efforts to correct this anomaly proved abortive, the TUC writes to inform her members as well as the good people of Oyo State that we are ready to negotiate but this will be consequent upon setting the right foundation to this crucial exercise,” the union said in a statement.
It would be recalled that the state government had said that the administration would commence the payment of the N70,000 minimum wage once the issue of consequential salary adjustment had been addressed.
This was as the governor announced the extension of the N25,000 wage award to workers and N15,000 wage award to pensioners by another three months.
