Minimum wage failure at the implementation level (Nigeria)

Organised labour  met with the Federal Government on Friday in Abuja over the implementation of the N30,000 new minimum wage.

It was unfortunate that no decision was taken on a new wage structure.

It was learnt that the Federal Government and Labour Congress agreed  to  wait for  President Muhammadu Buhari’s position  on the issue.

The  proposal from the FG is 10 per cent salary increase for workers on grade level 07 to 14 and 5.5 per cent for workers on grade level 15 to 17.  But  labour is demanding  29 per cent for workers on grade level 07 to 14 and 24 per cent for  those  on grade level 15 to 17.

The two sides had resolved at the last meeting that the position of labour and that of the representatives of the government  be sent to President Buhari.

In their meeting on Friday, government representatives told the meeting that they had a challenge which was very technical.

They said the  technical committee must first report the decisions (positions of the two parties) to the plenary, that is the main negotiating committee before taking it to their principal. To us, this was in order.

The main committee assigned the job to the technical committee so it is in order that the report be taken to the main committee. We agreed that the report should be sent to the plenary which also met same day.

After that it was agreed that the report be sent to President Buhari with the hope that a realistic government position will come up. Those at the committee said their mandate did not go beyond taking the report and presenting it to their principal.

Amazon just unveiled its biggest office building in India

Amazon just opened its biggest office building in the world in the Indian city of Hyderabad.

The online retail giant's new campus in the city's financial district opened on Wednesday. It covers 9.5 acres and has 1.8 million square feet of office space, making it "Amazon's single largest building in the world in terms of total area," according to the company.

The building can accommodate up to 15,000 employees, nearly a quarter of Amazon's full-time India workforce of more than 62,000. The company also has 155,000 contract workers in the country, making India its biggest base outside the United States.

Office Space enough to accommodate up to 15,000 employees

The Hyderabad campus is the first office outside the United States that Amazon fully owns.

Amazon (AMZN) has poured billions of dollars into its India business in recent years. It is expanding its operations and reportedly looking for stakes in local retailers as it battles Walmart for an e-commerce market that Morgan Stanley estimates will be worth $200 billion by 2027.

"This new Amazon campus building is a tangible commitment to that long-term thinking and our plans for India," Amit Agarwal, the company's India head, said in a statement.

"This is Day One for us in India, and we look forward to creating an environment where diverse contributions are welcomed and innovation encouraged for the long term," John Schoettler, Amazon's vice president of global real estate and facilities, said in a statement.

The new Hyderabad campus will eventually be expanded to cover 68 acres — roughly the equivalent of 65 football fields, Amazon said. The tech city was Amazon's first point of entry into India in 2004. It is also home to other big global names, including Microsoft's (MSFT) India headquarters and Ikea's first India store.