New Minimum wage: Fresh battle looms over arrears

Workers demand new deal for pensioners too Imo, Plateau, Osun still negotiating

With the battle for a new minimum wage settled in most of the 36 states,workers are now shifting attention to the payment of the arrears of their remuneration.

Many of the states commenced payment of the new wage last month while some have promised to do so at the end of this month.

But Imo,Osun and Plateau state governments are yet to commit themselves on how much they are willing to pay and when they plan to start paying.

The Minimum Wage Act  took effect from July following the signing of the bill by  President Bola Tinubu on July 29.

Negotiation between government (Federal and States),organised labour and the private sector on the matter  took some time and when it was all over,the state governors asked that they be given till the end of October to enable them put their finances in order.

One of the states already preparing for negotiation of payment of arrears of the new wage is Katsina.

Chairman of the state  chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Hussain Hamisu,told The Nation by phone that labour is scheduled to commence negotiations with the state government on the payment of arrears  and  on how retirees could benefit from the new salary structure.

The committee set up by the state government on the new minimum wage is about rounding off its assignment.

Hamisu said once the committee completes its assignment in another two weeks, negotiation on the arrears will begin.

‘’Retirees must equally be considered during negotiations, considering the fact that there was a circular on their benefits and entitlements at the time of their retirements,’’ he said.

The NLC boss said  Katsina has a history of timely wage payments and taking care of the interest of workers.

The 15- member committee on the minimum wage was charged with the responsibility of advising the state government  on strategy and modalities for the  implementation of the new salary structure.

No question of arrears, retirees in Delta – NLC

Civil servants in Delta State are not looking forward to receiving arrears of the new minimum wage, according to the local chairman of the NLC, Comrade Goodluck Ofobrukwu.

He said the NLC was satisfied with the implementation of the new wage structure by the state government .

Ofobrukwu, in a telephone interview with The Nation, said the effective date for implementation date of the new minimum wage was October 1, and therefore will be no need for negotiations on payment of arrears.

Payment of the new minimum wage to retirees commenced also in October.

 His words: “The Federal Government circular is with effect from 29th July, 2024. In Delta State, we agreed that the effective date should be 1st October, 2024, so there is no question of arrears. And we have been paid

“Some states are taking 1st November, others 1st October, some have not started. If we are adopting the circular and taking 1st October, which has been implemented, then there is no question of Delta State government paying arrears.

 “The pensioners you talked about, the N32,000 that the Federal Government asked to be added to their salary has been added with effect from 1st October. That was the agreement we signed with the state government, so it has taken effect from 1st October.”

No agreement yet on arrears in Kwara

The   Kwara State government agreed to commence payment of N70,000 as minimum wage from last month but asked that discussion with organized labour on arrears be put on hold.

Government, according to the local  chairman of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) Olayinka Onikijipa,said  sustainability of payment of the new minimum wage was more important than arrears for now.

“For sustainability, they said we should put on hold any discussion on payment of arrears,” Onikijipa said.

He added:” That is not what the law says. But we will continue to push for its implementation.’

On the fate of pensioners, he said:”The issue of extending the payment to pensioners has not come up at all. Pensioners are not yet captured in the state.”

Enugu still sorting out  consequential adjustment of minimum wage

Payment of the new minimum wage took off in Enugu State last month but it was without consequential adjustment.

Government is yet to finalise work on that aspect of the new salary structure.

Chairman of the NLC in the state, Comrade Fabian Nwigbo, confirmed to The Nation in Enugu that civil servants went home with the new salary at the end of October while they now await conclusion of work on the consequential adjustment.

He said:”Now, what the committee is working on is the consequential adjustment and chart on the announced minimum wage.

“I believe everything will be ok soon.”

He said the NLC had reached out to government on  the plight of pensioners and  “I hope at the appropriate time he will address the request.”

Imo Govt, Labour close to agreement

Organized labour in Imo State is optimistic of reaching an agreement soon with the state government on the consequential adjustment of the minimum wage.

Chairman of the TUC  in the  state, Comrade Uchenna Great, said the conclusion of negotiation with government was caused by the foreign trip of Governor Hope Uzodimma.

He said:” organized labour had its own committee before the governor left… We met and discussed, the discussion centered on consequential adjustment.

“If both sides agree on the adjustment that will follow, we will come to an agreement and then sign, but both sides are waiting for the return of the governor.”

Comrade Uche Chigemezu, Imo State NLC Chairman, corroborated Great’s position, saying: “The state government has agreed to pay but we have not finalised on the matter.”

Why we couldn’t start payment of minimum wage in October – Gov Otti

Abia State governor, Alex Otti,  said the planned commencement of payment of the minimum wage in October failed to materialise because of a “computation error”.

But he said both sides have now reached “an amicable agreement” and payment will start at the end of this month.

The chairman of NLC in the state, Comrade Ogbonnaya Okoro, could not be reached.

Bayelsa tasks LGAs on revenue generation

The Bayelsa State government has warned local governments in the state to intensify their internal revenue generation effort to be able to cope with their financial obligations to their employees.

Deputy Governor Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo said in Yenagoa, the state capital that the councils must devise independent sources of revenue and desist from depending solely  on the  monthly federal allocations.

Receiving a delegation of   the state chapter of  the Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP), in his office, Ewhrudjakpo said it would be difficult for the councils to pay and sustain the new minimum wage if they continued to  completely depend on statutory allocations from Abuja.

“I have asked experts in that area to work out the new minimum wage to see what the local governments will be able to pay. I know that council workers will insist that they should be paid like their state counterparts,” he said.

“But we should know that the state government and local governments do not have the same level or sources of funding. How many of our local governments are able to generate N100 million in a  whole year? Just only  a few of them.

“As I said earlier, the details of what is going to cost each local government area must be worked out first because if we are not careful, our councils will go bankrupt.

“That is why I have told them to be very innovative and serious about generating revenue for the councils. There is nothing that stops you from collecting little money from people selling in the market. Or, collect licenses from boat, motorbike, keke operators. That’s not a crime. It is legitimate.”

He assured the retirees that government was working hard to settle all  pensioners who were inadvertently omitted in the payment of gratuities across board last year.

He also promised to make some effort to ensure that local government retirees have a share of the N7 billion the state government recently announced for the  payment of outstanding gratuities.

On the issue of upward review of monthly pensions to the retirees, he said such review would be based on the capacity of the local governments.

Negotiations on N70,000 minimum wage ongoing – Plateau NLC

Civil servants in Plateau State expect to start enjoying the new minimum wage by the end of this month.

The state Chairman of the NLC, Comrade Eugene Manji, told The Nation that negotiations with the state were  ongoing.

 “We are still  negotiating  with the government committee on the minimum wage,” he said.

“Nothing is concluded yet but we have gone far with the negotiation. And I hope that negotiations will be  concluded in the next few days so that  payment of  the minimum wage will commence this November.”

Kano civil servants too

Kano State civil servants are also hopeful that they will go home with the new salary this month.

Governor  Abba Yusuf  has already approved N71,000 as minimum wage.

Chairman of NLC in the state, Comrade Kabiru Inuwa, said the union was in negotiations with government on the payment of arrears and extension to retired workers.

“They (civil servants) will be paid their N71,000 minimum wage  this November,” he said.

“We are in negotiations over payment of arrears. For retirees, we are also on their matter. We are holding talks,” Inuwa said.

The NLC state chairman said there are some workers in the state whose pay is  as low as N5,000 but the union is negotiating to improve their wages.

“We are on top of all this,” he said.

Osun workers in limbo

Employees of the Osun State government are not sure of anything regarding the minimum wage despite assurances by agents of government that it will abide by the law on the matter.

The committee set up by the state government on consequential adjustment is still working, The Nation gathered in Osogbo.

 Unlike other state governors, Governor Ademola Adeleke has not announced how much the state government is willing to pay.

Chairman of the NLC in the state, Comrade Chris Arapasopo  could not be reached for comments.