The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has disclosed that only five states have started implementing the new national minimum wage, eight months after passage into law by President Muhammadu Buhari.
In a communiqué issued at the end of its one-day stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja, the labour union listed Lagos, Kaduna, Kebbi, Adamawa and Jigawa states as those paying their workers the new salary package.
The communiqué was signed by the NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, General Secretary, Emmanuel Ugboaja, and National Chairperson, Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (Trade Union), Abdulrafiu A. Adeniji.
The NLC listed the states that are yet to set up committees, to include: Bauchi, Yobe, Rivers, Benue, Gombe, Kwara, Imo, Osun, Ekiti, Oyo, Anambra, Taraba, Cross River, Ogun, Enugu, Nasarawa, Plateau, Kogi and Delta.
The communique reads: “Each state should immediately convoke an emergency executive council meeting and state congress of all workers to brief them on the outcome of the stakeholders’ meeting on the new national minimum wage implementation;
“States that are still on the discussion table (Category 2) should expedite discussions to conclude the negotiations on or before December 31, 2019;
“States which have not commenced discussion should quickly constitute a negotiating committee and expeditiously conclude discussions on salary adjustment consequent on the new national minimum wage on or before December 31, 2019.
“In the event that any state fails to comply with these resolutions on or before December 31, 2019, organised labour will not guarantee industrial harmony in such state.”
