Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC). Akwa Ibom State chapter has denied signing any agreement with the state government on the new national minimum wage.
Mr Iboro Ibara, Secretary of NLC, Akwa-Ibom state Chapter stated this while reacting to government’s announcement of payment of the new minimum wage in Uyo. He insisted that negotiations for the final arrangement between her and government has not been concluded.
In a statement issued by Governor Udom Emmanuel, the state government said, “I stand by my earlier assurances to the workers on the implementation on the new national minimum wage.
“I have adopted and approved the payment of N30, 000 new minimum wage in Akwa Ibom with Federal Government’s negotiated consequential adjustment percentage increase with effect from January 2020.”
The Government also said that she has approved one month arrears of the new minimum pay to be paid in subsequent months after January.
“In effect, with the payment of the approved one month arrears, payment of the new minimum wage in Akwa Ibom covers December 2019. “I appreciate our dear workers for their patience and understanding and urge them to reciprocate this gesture with dedication to duty to facilitate actualisation of the completion agenda,” he added.
Ibara however said that, “This is a unilateral decision of the state government and it is not done anywhere. The laws of Nigeria provide for wages to be fixed through collective bargaining in line with Conventions 87 and 89 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), which Nigeria ratified.
“It also reveals an inherent contempt for freedom of the workplace, which is a critical plank of democratic societies, as well as the fact that serious deficits exist in terms of capacity on the part of the administrators of bureaucracy.”
Ibara referred to the arbitrariness exhibited by the state government in the new minimum pay matter and other instances and said that “by this action, the state government is unwittingly igniting an industrial crisis of unmanageable proportions. Enough is enough.”
He accused the state Government of highhandedness in the minimum wage issue
