By Michael Oche
The National leadership of joint Public Service Negotiations Council (JPSNC) Trade Union side has called on the federal government to review the allowances of workers in the Public Service in view of the prevailing economic situations in the country.
The council asked for a review of housing, transport, medical and utility allowances.
This was contained in a letter addressed to President Muhammadu Buhari through the Head of Service of the Federation entitled” urgent need for upward review of allowances to entire workers in the Public Service”
The letter dated 5th July 2022 was signed by both the National Chairperson joint Public Service Negotiations Council Comrade Benjamin Anthony and the National Secretary Comrade Bomoi Mohammed ibraheem.
The workers 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; 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”
