David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Anambra State chapter has charged the state Governor, Willie Obiano, to implement the agreed template on new minimum wage within 14 days or have the state shutdown.
NLC, in a communiqué issued at the end its State Executive Council meeting on the implementation of the new minimum wage and its consequential adjustment on Monday evening in Awka, accused the governor of not implementing the agreed template it reached with the organised labour.
The labour expressed disappointment over the non-implementation and disregard to the agreement government reached with workers in the state.
The communiqué was jointly signed by the Chairman of Joint Negotiations Council (JNC), Benson Jibike; Chairman of Anambra State chapter of NLC, Jerry Nnubia; Chairman of Anambra State Trade Union Congress (TUC), Ifeanyi Okechukwu; Acting Secretary of JNC/Secretary of Anambra State Civil Service of Nigeria, Barr. Alex Ebi; and Secretary of the Nigerian Union Local Government Employees (NULGE), Netufo Segun.
“We are not happy with the government’s implementation of the minimum wage and will proceed on industrial action after the expiration of the 14-day ultimatum, if nothing is done to implement the agreed template.
“On January 24, 2020, we finalised agreement with government on the new minimum wage increment, but surprisingly workers received their January salaries without the reflection of the agreed scale increment,” Jibike said.
Also speaking, Nnubia said the state government has not paid the workers the new minimum wage, rather what it did was just like giving bonuses to workers.
He said: “Before any new salary adjustment, there must be circular and we did not see any.
“Government just added two thousand and five hundred naira to our salary. The government called it new minimum wage without telling us how it came by the increment. We still believe what government added in the January salary was bonus and not the new minimum wage implementation.”
Meanwhile, the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), has sided with Obiano, saying the governor has fulfilled his promise of payment of the new minimum wage to workers in the state from January.
The party said the workers were complaining over their January salary simply because of “human insatiability.”
APGA National Co-ordinator of Media Warriors’ Forum, Chinedu Obigwe, at a press conference in Awka, Anambra State capital, insisted that workers in the state were paid appropriately in January.
“It’s important to correct the erroneous impression insinuating that Governor Obiano’s payment of minimum wage is a scam.
“As a matter of fact, Governor Obiano paid the minimum wage to workers in January.
“The minimum wage has been implemented to the extent that the lowest paid worker earns N30,000 in gross monthly salary minus their obligatory deductions like tax, union dues, health insurance and so on.
“The consequential adjustments for those on GL O7 upwards were also implemented in a way that there was no more salary disparity among workers.
“It should also be noted that the salary disparity between state and local government workers has been harmonised by Obiano’s administration.
“This clearly shows that Governor Obiano empathised with the workers in the local government and listened to them by upgrading their salary even before implementation of the minimum wage,” he said.
Obigwe insisted that the opposition parties in the state were those making political capital with the payment of the new wage.
