Laleye Dipo in Minna
The Niger State Government and the state chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) have resolved their dispute leading to the immediate suspension of the strike embarked upon by workers.
The strike, which was declared last Tuesday was over the non-implementation of the N30,000 minimum wage to all category of workers in the state.
The state government had commenced the payment of the new wage in January but only to workers on Salary grade levels 1 to 6.
A statement issued by the NLC at the weekend which was made available to journalists said the government had agreed to pay the new wage to all workers effective form this month.
The government also agreed to pay the arrears of two months’ salary to state workers while local government workers will be paid three months’ arrears from this month.
The statement signed by Chairman of state chapter of the NLC, Yahaya Garba, and his counterpart in Trade Union Congress (TUC), Tanimu Yunusa, also stated that the government agreed to immediately commence refund of 7.5 percent money deducted from workers’ salaries over the years.
According to the statement, “The government has agreed to increase its contribution from 10.5 percent to 13 percent to address the 7.5 percent pension arrears.
The labour leaders also said in the statement that government has agreed to set aside 20 percent of its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) for the payment of pension liabilities to retirees
They expressed gratitude to the people of the state, workers and other stakeholders for their show of solidarity during the strike, while calling on workers to return to work immediately without fear of molestation.
There has been no reaction or statement from the government on the issue.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had while the strike lasted asked the government to pay the workers the “ legally approved minimum wage.
Tanko Beji in a statement had stated that the government was subjecting the people of the state to more hardship with the strike.
