The Nigeria Union of Pensioners, NUP, has expressed dissatisfaction with the federal government’s decision to leave pensioners out of a committee set up to negotiate a new minimum wage.
On Sunday, the Office of Secretary to the Government of the Federation, OSGF, announced that a 37-member Tripartite Committee it set up last year would be inaugurated today.
The magazine reported that the committee under the chairmanship of the…… is made up of the organized labour, government representatives, and business leaders from the public and private sectors.
The pensioners are unhappy that they are not part of the committee.
They expressed their feeling in a letter addressed to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, saying that they are major stakeholders in the new minimum wage negotiations, considering that the new wage and pension are supposed to be reviewed together.
According to the pensioners, if the federal government is prepared to increased the pensions being received by their members they must be represented in the negotiation.
If they are mistakenly left out, the pensioners said the omission must be addressed immediately.
The pensioners said: “We draw your attention to the non-inclusion of Nigeria Union of Pensioners to represent the interest of pensioners in such a committee on minimum wage.
“The Committee is to review the National Minimum wage as a result of the removal of fuel subsidy that inflicts hardship on many households in Nigeria, pensioners inclusive.
“Accordingly, the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Section 173/10 explicitly states that ‘pension shall be reviewed every five years or whenever workers’ salaries are reviewed, or whichever comes earlier’.
“In view of the above, it is our considered opinion that the Nigeria Union of Pensioners should have been represented in the Committee in the interest of justice and fairness to the Senior Citizens who are worse hit by the economic hardship and have the constitutional ‘locus’ to a five yearly salary review.
“Therefore, we appeal to your Excellency to correct this great omission before the inauguration of the Committee on the 30th of January, 2024.
“lmperatively, this is to avoid a situation where pensioners’ issue will be addressed separately after the workers’ issue are already settled,’ they said.
The letter was signed by NUP’s General Secretary, Actor Zal.
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