Minimum wage: Workers to have bumper harvest in December

Toba Agboola

Federal and Lagos State workers are to begin collecting the N30,000 minimum wage as from next month, it has been learnt.

The Association of the Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) gave the hint on Tuesday in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, at its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting.

But the association warned that it would move in January to shut down states that fail to conclude the consequential negotiation, following the December deadline set by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) last month.

After the completion of the consequential adjustment at the federal level, states were advised to begin their negotiations and wrap things up by December.

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ASCSN President Bobboi Bala Kaigama said states that are yet to begin negotiations should take a cue from Kaduna, which started payment even before the consequential adjustment was concluded at the federal level.

He said: “At the states level, we know the game they want to play and we are ready for them. Labour will take a joint action against those states. The law on Minimum Wage is explicit. Unlike before, defaulting states can be prosecuted. This time round, they have no escape route.”

The ASCSN President said Kaduna State government had played safe because it is paying more than what was negotiated at the Federal level, despite that fact that it started payment early.

He warned that by January, the union will start taking stock to get the defaulting states and take appropriate action against them.

On the payment of the consequential adjustment by the Federal and Lagos State governments, the association’s Secretary General Bashir Alade Lawal said ASCSN learnt that workers would be paid in December, 2019.

The union leader noted that the table, which delayed the payment, finally came out last Monday, when it was too late for the November salary.

“By the time they issued circular, the porter had been closed. But now, it has been prepared and, definitely by December, the consequential adjustment will be paid,” he said.