The Niger State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress has insisted on a full implementation of the new minimum wage for the October salary.
The union pointed out that it was ready to accept a delayed payment of salary as long as the government approved the new minimum wage.
The Chairman, Idrees Lafene, made this known in a chat with newsmen on Sunday, adding that the state NLC had written to the government on their position.
He said the union would not take anything less than the minimum wage in October.
President Bola Tinubu, on July 29, 2024, signed the N70,000 new minimum wage into law, after months of negotiations with the labour unions.
Following the signing of the bill, governors have commenced approving the minimum wage for workers in their respective states.
Governors Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Siminalayi Fubara approved N85,000 for their workers in Lagos and Rivers respectively; Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, approved N77,000, Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, approved N77,500 and the Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, approved N70,000, among others.
Expressing the hope that the Niger State Governor, Mohammed Bago, will follow the path of his brother governors, Lafene said the union leadership would meet with the government on Monday to address some grey areas.
“Already, we have written to the Niger State government on our readiness to wait for a delayed salary for October, if the new minimum wage will be implemented. We will not take anything less than the minimum wage in October.
“We hope the Niger State government will implement the new minimum wage soon. We have been meeting with the government on this matter and we are also going to meet on Monday to possibly iron out some grey areas,” he said.
Lafene said the organised labour in the state would be content with the N70,000 approved by the Federal Government if the state could not afford more.
“We met with Governor Mohammed Bago before he travelled and he kept telling us that they don’t have a problem with implementation at the state level, but the fear is at the Local Government level, where their salaries are almost four times bigger than that of the state government.
“The staff strength of local government areas is almost six times more than that of the state government, considering that local government autonomy will start this month,” he said
Lafene called on civil servants in the state to be patient as well as pray for the union leadership to achieve the target.