The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero, on Tuesday, described as irresponsible the threat by the Ebonyi State Governor, Francis Nwifuru, to sack workers who embarked on strike over the non-implementation of the N70,000 minimum wage by the state government.
The labour leader’s criticism of the governor comes as workers in Akwa Ibom State down tools to protest the failure of their state governor to implement the new wage just as their Kaduna counterparts suspended their strike.
The TheNigerian reports that the NLC had given directives to workers whose state governments did not implement the new minimum wage to embark on strike.
But Nwifuru, in a live broadcast on Monday, kicked against the industrial action, vowing he would withhold the salaries of the striking workers and also replace any of them who failed to report to office in the next 72 hours.
He said, “If you don’t go to work, not only that I will not pay you salary, I will replace you within 72 hours. As far as I am not guilty, I do not owe you. I am paying you what is supposed to be paid and according to the agreement and constitution, I do not owe you. If you don’t go to work within 72 hours, I will replace you.”
He added, “I have called the Chairman of the Civil Service Commission. I have directed all the commissioners to go to their offices. All the agencies and all the departments of government must be in their offices and record the people that come to work.
But Ajaero, in his reaction to Nwifuru’s outburst, noted that the strike action was preceded by failed conversations and notices to the governor on the need to implement the 2024 national minimum wage signed into law several months ago.
The labour leader, in a statement, said, “The law has provisions for enforcement by workers. Besides this, strike action is a lawful/legitimate tool in the hands of aggrieved workers. In light of this, we consider the threat by the governor as irresponsible and unhelpful.
“What a reasonable governor acting reasonably ought to have done was to invite the labour leaders in the state for dialogue for a speedy resolution of the facts in issue. But he thinks he is God. On our part, we want the world to know that Governor Nwifuru is the first to draw blood in a matter of which he is completely guilty.’’
“We also want the world to know that the right of response is available to us in pursuance of a just cause. Accordingly, the National Secretariat of the Congress has directed all the affiliates, including those in the private sector, to immediately join in the strike action.
“It similarly urged the workers already on strike to not yield to the threats of the governor. They are to sustain the momentum until the governor sees the need to not only behave properly but pay the minimum wage in compliance with the law. In the coming hours, further directives will be given as we deem fit,” Ajaero said.
Meanwhile, the Kaduna State chapter of the NLC has suspended its strike over the non-payment of the minimum wage to workers in the state.
The strike was suspended for seven days to give the state government time to revisit its payment template, which was rejected by the labour union due to certain inconsistencies.
The NLC chairman in Kaduna State, Ayuba Suleiman, disclosed this to journalists on Tuesday.
According to him, the decision to suspend the strike was taken after a Monday night meeting with government representatives.
“We met with the government representatives and we agreed to suspend the strike for seven days to give them space to revisit their payment template.
“We rejected the payment because it exempted some workers, paid some less, and paid some more. We want a uniform payment template that reflects the new minimum wage,” he said.
Suleiman expressed gratitude to the workers for their support during the strike.
“We thank you for your compliance, and we assure you that your interests are our priority. You can now return to work tomorrow morning, and we will continue to fight for your rights,” he said, while commending the National Monitoring Committee for giving the union the go-ahead to suspend the strike.
“We contacted the NLC National Monitoring Committee, and they gave us the go-ahead to suspend the strike. We are confident that the state government will revisit its payment template and come up with a uniform payment structure that reflects the new minimum wage, ‘’ he explained.
However, Governor Uba Sani’s Chief Press Secretary, Ibraheem Musa, clarified that the issue was related to salary adjustments, not the minimum wage itself.
“The least paid worker in Kaduna State received N72,000 in November,” Musa said, adding, “The issue is not about the minimum wage but about the consequential adjustments. We urge patience, as the state’s limited revenue, which comprises an average monthly allocation of N8bn from the Federal Account Allocation Committee and N4bn in internally generated revenue, makes it difficult to implement the adjustments immediately.”
In a related development, civil servants in Akwa Ibom State have resolved to embark on strike from Wednesday (today) following the non-implementation of the national minimum wage in the state.
This was contained in a communique issued after an emergency meeting of the State Executive Council held at the NLC Secretariat, Uyo on Monday.
The meeting was attended by members of the State Administrative Council and State Executive Council.
The statement, signed by the chairman of SEC, Sunny James, and made available to our correspondent in Uyo, on Tuesday, read, “The Sec -in-session made the following resolutions: That His Excellency direct for the signing of the New National Minimum Wage Agreement, which shall state the effective date of implementation while the staff verification exercise shall continue;
“That if by midnight of Tuesday, December 3, 2024, the agreement mentioned in (1) above is not signed with the effective date and month of commencement for payment properly indicated. All workers in the state shall commence an indefinite strike action over the non-implementation of the new wage.
“That the SEC-in-Session hereby acknowledges the directives of the national leadership of the NLC and that of the presidents of the affiliate unions to commence action on December 1, 2024, but following the peculiar situation of the burial of the First Lady of our state, there was the need to shift our date by three days and hereby direct all the workers to proceed on strike on Wednesday, 4th December, 2024 if the agreement is not signed by that time.
“That workers are further directed to come out en-masse to the Akwa Ibom State Government House gate at Wellington Bassey Way, Uyo on Monday December 9, 2024 to massively protest for their new national minimum wage payment.”
