The organised labour in Kaduna State has commenced a one-week warning strike as instructed by the national leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) over non-implementation of the new minimum wage.
The State Chairman of the NLC, Comrade Ayuba Suleiman confirmed the strike, saying, “We have embarked on warning strike as instructed by our national leaders over non-implementation implementation of the minimum wage.”
Meanwhile, the state government said it has commenced the implementation of the national minimum wage, describing the NLC’s claim that the state has defaulted as a misrepresentation of fact.
Governor Uba Sani’s Chief Press Secretary, Malam Ibraheem Musa on Sunday, decried NLC’s lumping of Kaduna State with other states.
He described the decision to embark on strike as ‘’as grossly unfair because the least paid worker received N72,000 as gross salary in the month of November.’’
According to Musa, Governor Sani has complied with the spirit and letter of the National Minimum Wage Law, by paying the lowest paid civil servant N72,000 in the month of November.
“NLC is harping on the issue of consequential adjustment, but the labour body should realise that there is difference between salary increment and minimum wage,’’ the statement explained.
He added that “Kaduna State receives an average of N8 billion from Federal Account Allocation Committee(FAAC) from the centre every month. It also generates around N4 billion monthly. That translates to N12 billion revenue monthly.
“However, the monthly wage bill has jumped from N5.4 billion to N6.3 billion with the implementation of the minimum wage last month and there is also the deduction of N4 billion for loan payment every month.
“So, the wage bill and the deduction have gulped over N10 million out of the total N12 billion revenue. That leaves only N2 billion for rural transformation, overhauling the health sector, revamping education and providing dividends of democracy to the people of Kaduna State,’’ he said.
He argued that it will be unfair for the state government to spend almost all its revenue on consequential adjustments, after paying the mandatory minimum wage.
“There are over 10 million people who are also entitled to the accrued revenue of Kaduna State. There are 84,827 civil servants in the state. So, it is unreasonable for government to spend over 90% of its revenue on just about 1% of the population, ‘’ he explained.
He pleaded with the NLC to exercise patience over the consequential adjustments, pending when government’s revenue improves, adding that Governor Sani is labour-friendly.
The statement reminded that Kaduna State Government has already bought buses for civil servants which will convey them to and from work free of charge, as part of the palliatives to cushion the prevailing economic challenges.
Meanwhile, the NLC Chairman in a telephone interview with Journalists said, Kaduna State Government has only implemented the new national minimum wage, but it is not willing to implement the consequential adjustment.
Asked about the meeting held between the labour leaders and the Kaduna State Government representatives on Saturday, the NLC Chairman confirmed the meeting but said no agreement was reached.
In the same vein, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) accused the State Government of unilateral implementation of the N72,000.00 new minimum wage, urging the government to take the next step by approving the consequential adjustments to the salary tables as negotiated by the organised labour.
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