The organised labour in the country will soon come up with a strong position on the suspension of the payment of the wage award to civil servants and has warned the federal and state governments to prepare to increase the minimum wage from the current N30,000 monthly.
It also warned state governors that they would have no choice but to pay the minimum wage once it is signed into law next year.
Already, conversations are being held around the new minimum wage, which is expected to be signed into law soon. The Federal Government on its part has budgeted the sum of N1tn for minimum wage adjustments, promotion arrears and severance benefits for civil servants in its Ministries, Departments and Agencies, analysis of the 2024 appropriation budget released by the Budget Office of the Federation revealed.
However, state governments have largely remained silent on the issue of a new minimum wage for their workers, even in the face of escalating cost of living nationwide.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Idris Mohammed, said in an interview with Sunday PUNCH in Abuja that the current N30,000 minimum wage would expire at the end of March 2024.
The Federal Government’s team and the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council on October 18, 2019, agreed on the implementation of the N30,00 minimum wage after months of negotiations.
The Deputy President of the Trade Union Congress, Tommy Etim, said that the body might resolve to embark on a prolonged industrial action during its next national executive council meeting.
He said in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents on Saturday, “At the last TUC NEC meeting, we called the government’s attention to the fact that stopping the payment of the wage award is not in the best interest of the government, because it is a recipe for industrial action; so, that alone is a signal.
“However, the government has not also invited us to tell us why they have not paid; so, we are waiting; if by the end of this month of December they have not paid, I can assure you that at the next meeting of NEC, there will be a resolution for an industrial action.
“Until the budget passes through the National Assembly and is enacted before Mr President assents to it. If it is assented to, there will be a supplementary budget to that effect (new minimum wage), so that is not an issue. When you look at the current inflation rate of about 28.2 per cent, no benchmark as of today can survive. So, it is not going to be based on a mere pronouncement of N500, 000 for instance.”
