Nigeria, Labour agree on minimum wage implementation
The Nigerian government and the organised labour have finally found a common ground on the implementation of the national minimum wage five months after the minimum wage Act was enacted.
The new national minimum wage act was signed by President Muhammadu Buhari in May but the implementation was restricted to officers on Salary Grade level 01 to 06.
The minimum wage of US$90 a month could not be extended to senior and management staff in the federal establishment because of the disagreement in consequential adjustments.
The Minister of State for Labour, Mr Festus Keyamo, reported early on Friday that the agreement on the full implementation had been signed.
In a tweet, he said: “At about 3am this morning, we signed this Terms of Settlement between government and Labour.’’
“The agreement reveals different percentages of adjustments in other wages after the minimum wage adjustment. Those of the law-enforcement agencies have also been done, but are not captured in this Memorandum.’’
“After some delicate negotiations (with both Ministers as conciliators) Government and Labour have finally reached an agreement on the consequential adjustments of other wages following the implementation of the enhanced minimum wage of N30,000. We are now working on the communiqué’’
He posted the agreement duly signed by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC).
Some states, including Kaduna, had started implementing the new minimum wage.
With the agreement, the planned nationwide strike had been suspended.