Bimbola Oyesola
Organised Labour has vowed to shut down any state that fail to implement the new Minimum Wage by December.
The Association of the Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) at its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Abeokuta, Ogun State, yesterday, warned that it would move in January to cripple states that fail to conclude the consequential negotiation by the December deadline issued by the two labour centres, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC).
This is as it confirmed that workers at the federal level and Lagos State will begin collecting the new minimum wage by December. After two days negotiation, Lagos agreed to pay N35,000 minimum wage and also approved 30 percent for level 7, 25 per cent for levels 8-10, 25.5 per cent for 12-14 and 20 per cent for 15-17. However, payment of arrears would begin in February, even as it agreed to pay 13th month as bonus in December.
Last month, NLC and TUC, after the completion of the consequential adjustment charged states to commence negotiations and ensure they concluded it by December.
President of the union, Bobboi Bala Kaigama, said states that were yet to commence negotiations should take a clue from Kaduna that has began payment even before the consequential adjustment was concluded at the federal level.
“At the states level, we know the game they want to play and we are ready for them. Labour will take joint action against those states (that default). The law on Minimum Wage is explicit, unlike before. Now defaulting states can be prosecuted. This time around they have no escape route.”
He warned that by January, the union will start taking stock and commence appropriate action against defaulting states.
“The Secretariat is ready to support all the councils and we will move in by January to shut down states that fail to commence payment in December,” he affirmed.