From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
The National Labour Congress (NLC) has reaffirmed its resolve to take decisive action against states that refuse to implement the new minimum wage by the October 31 deadline.
The Assistant General Secretary of the NLC, Chris Onyeka, in a phone chat with the Daily Sun, insisted that the Congress would not tolerate any more delays or inefficiencies in the process.
He also said the consequential wage adjustment was a crucial process, and the NLC expects states to handle it with diligence and integrity, ensuring that no worker was shortchanged in the process.
He said: “We gave a deadline that everything should be concluded by the end of this month. By the end of the month, those that have not started implementing will be in trouble. They will have issues with us.”
As the October 31 deadline approaches for the implementation of the N70,000 minimum wage, many of the 36 states are racing against time. While several states have completed negotiations with organised labour regarding their wage levels, others are still finalising their processes.
Additionally, there are outstanding arrears related to the new wage that need resolution between labour and governments at both the state and federal levels, according to recent reports.
Lagos and Rivers states have offered the highest minimum wage of N85,000, followed by Delta, N77,500 and Ogun, N77,000. Other states will pay as follows: Ondo – N73,000; Kogi – N72,500; Gombe – N71,500, while Edo, Ebonyi, Jigawa, Kwara, Anambra, Adamawa, and Kano will all pay N70,000.
Bauchi, Cross River, Benue, Akwa Ibom, Oyo, Osun, Abia, Enugu, Plateau, and Imo are still negotiating with labour organs in their various states to reach a consensus.
Asked to give an update on the Union’s meeting with the Federal Government and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) last week over the issue of hike in price of petrol, Onyeka said: “There is a communiqué from a joint NEC meeting that should come out either this night or tomorrow morning.”