We Will Harmonise Workers’ Salaries- FG

The Federal Government has disclosed its commitment to harmonising salaries of workers in the public sector.

Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, stated this at a two-day national forum on compensation management on Monday in Abuja, organised by the Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS) in collaboration with the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission (NSIWC) and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES).

According to Mustapha who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the office of the government of the federation, Dr Maurice Mbaeri, the presidential committee set up for that purpose had commenced work to ensure that all federal workers across board were remunerated appropriately.

He said President Muhammadu Buhari had always taken the issue of compensation policy very seriously, adding that he had demonstrated that over time.

He said one of the evidences of the Federal Government’s commitment was the fact that it did not retrench any federal worker in spite of the harsh economic situation.

Mustapha said the Federal Government had ensured implementation of the National Minimum Wage Act, payment of pension, increment of duty tour allowances, and payment of Special COVID-19 allowance among others, adding that the issue of compensation was a recurring decimal in the workplace globally.

He said the issue, which had generated interest overtime, had often pitched social partners and institutional actors in the industrial relations system against one another.

According to him, compensation as one of the key elements of relationship had direct relationship with workers’ performance and productivity and that all these factors are critical to the success of any organisation and the economy at large.

He expressed optimism that the discussions that would arise from the two-day workshop would produce policies that would reflect adequate compensation for workers and that government would be ready to make use of the outcome of the forum.

The SGF urged workers to reciprocate government’s gestures by being productive.