The Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development, Alhaji Ahmed Mohammed Gusau (MFR) has brokered a 10-point agreement between the management of Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited (ASCL) and its workforce to usher in lasting industrial peace in the company.

Both the local and national officers of the Steel and Engineering Workers Union of Nigeria, (SEWUN) Iron and Steel Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ISSA) and the Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Mr. Patrick Iwara, endorsed the agreement. Statement issued by the ministry's head of Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Clinton Adebolu Oni stated that highpoints of the agreement include payment of 15 per cent increase in basic salary with effect from September 1st, 2007 with arrears from January 1st, 2007 and reversion to five working days.

Oni said the management also agreed that henceforth, salaries would be paid on the 7th but not later than the 10th of the following month while all deductions for the contributory Pension Scheme will be remitted to Pension Administrators within the next six months. The management also agreed to regularise the appointment of workers that have performed while all outstanding promotions of 2006 to date are to be released before the end of this month. Ajaokuta Steel management also agreed to abolish all forms of casualisation and that payment of outstanding incentives to date will be settled with the November salaries of the workers.

As a result of the development, the unions and the company have agreed to maintain peace and harmony and will not indulge in any kind of intimidation, violence or any such act that will threaten the peace of the company while the management has agreed to honour its own commitment. The minister of state inaugurated the tripartite committee of the workers, management and the ministry officials to resolve all the lingering issues that have disrupted industrial peace in the company.

At the peak of the crisis workers of the Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited allegedly kidnapped 11 Indian expatriates and a Nigerian. This development was revealed by Mr. Sunil Manwati who represented Global Steel at the resumption of talks between unions in the Steel Industry, the Ajaokuta management and officials of the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, which led to the resolution of the crisis. Although the management of the steel company and its workers have agreed to resolve issues that led to industrial disharmony in Ajaokuta Steel Company, Manwati had appealed to the Federal Government to effect the release of the hostages and deal with perpetrators accordingly.

Manwati gave the assurance that the management of Ajaokuta Steel Company would implement the 10-point agreements, which was the outcome of a tripartite committee initiated by the Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development, Alhaji Gusau to resolve the crisis. Highpoints of the agreement include 15 per cent salary increase effective from September 1, with arrears effective from January 1, 2007; adoption of five working days a week in place of six working days a week. The Chairman of the Arbitration Panel set up to resolve industrial crisis which erupted at the Ajaokuta Steel Company, Mr. Patrick Iwara, said that the 10-point agreement adopted at the end of negotiations were crucial to the resumption of peace, tranquillity and harmonious relationship between the management and the workers. Iwara, acting permanent secretary in the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development spoke through the Director of Mines Inspectorate, Mr. Sheikh Goni. He noted that with the resolution of the crisis, peace would reign in the steel city of Ajaokuta to be able to perform optimally.

Reading out the communiqué to newsmen at the end of the negotiations, the President of Iron and Steel Senior Staff Association, Titus Orimijupa, expressed his gratitude to both the minister and the minister of state for their intervention, which had brought about peaceful resolution of the crisis. The union president pleaded with the Federal Government and the management of Ajaokuta Steel Company to settle all administrative issues relating to the concession agreement of the company.