Labour to meet govt on new minimum pension

[TGD]

 NIGERIA'S retirees may soon smile if orgainsed Labour's resolve to meet the Federal Government over their inclusion as beneficiaries of the new minimum wage sails through.

Labour leaders are falling back on a subsisting agreement that whenever there is a general wage increase, pensioners would have their benefits reviewed upward. In the absence of a wage rise, the pact stipulates that the pensioners' pay would be increased every five years.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) – the two dominant labour unions in the country – are spearheading the planned discussion with the government through the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Chief Anyim Pius Anyim on the issue.

Ahead of the talks, the National Union of Pensioners (NUP) has threatened to boycott the proposed pensioners' verification exercise on September 21, 2011, should the Federal Government fail to clear the backlog of arrears of 2,000 of its members.

The coming parley with the government was disclosed yesterday in Abuja at the NUP's National Executive Council (NEC) meeting by the NLC President, Abdulwahed Omar.

Omar, who was represented by the Head of International Desk, Uchenna Ekwe, said it was constitutional that the minimum pension be reviewed upward upon the adoption of a new minimum wage or every five years, which one comes first.

He said the Congress leadership would seek the intervention of the SGF for the adoption of a new minimum wage for the country's senior citizens.

The NLC boss explained that even though the National Salaries and Wages Commission had been proactive in pushing for a new pension scale, the Congress had decided to meet with the SGF over the issue to give it the needed political bite

Omar added: "Even though we have gone far in pushing for a new minimum pension, we are encountering some level of bottlenecks. That is why we are pushing for an audience with the SGF to move it a little up. We are adopting this approach in order to give the issue the needed political push. Of course, the law is favourable to this pursuit because it stipulates that whenever there is a wage review, there will be a rise in pension".

NUP National President, Alhaji Ali Abatcha insisted that his members would boycott the revalidation exercise until they receive backlog of their pensions.

The Office of the Head of Service of the Federation had informed the pensioners of a nationwide revalidation of their biometric credentials and records on September 21.

He threatened that members would not honour the programme until it fulfilled its promise of paying the pensioners within 48 hours.



The Guardian