BAYELSA SUCCUMBS TO PRESSURE, APPROVES N80,000 MINIMUM WAGE FOR LG STAFF
Read Time:2 Minute, 47 Second
The Bayelsa State Government has approved a minimum wage of N80,000 for local government council staff following pressure from the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC).
The government also promised to include the salary differentials for December, stemming from ongoing discussions about the new minimum wage payment template used in November.
This announcement was made on Tuesday by the state’s acting governor, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, during a meeting at the Government House in Yenagoa.
The meeting involved the state minimum wage implementation committee and chairpersons of the eight local government councils, along with representatives from the NLC, TUC, Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, Nigerian Union of Teachers, and the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria, among others.
Ewhrudjakpo urged labour to come up with their own computation following the consequential adjustment principle and harmonise the same with the state team to enable the payment of the differentials alongside the December salaries.
He said the decision to pay the new minimum wage to council workers was unanimously agreed upon by all the critical stakeholders, including the local government chairmen.
On the issue of the federal government circular for the increment of pensioners’ remuneration, he promised that the government would look at it while disclosing that it had already approved a N10,000 increase for pensioners across the board.
He explained that the state government cannot adopt the federal government template for the implementation of the new minimum wage for workers due to its financial capacity.
READ ALSO:
ATIKU, OBI ALLIANCE CANNOT DEFEAT TINUBU IN 2027 PRESIDENCY – APC
He assured civil servants of government commitment to their welfare, saying Bayelsa was already paying a more competitive wage than most states in in the South-South region in particular and the country at large
He stated, “Firstly, we have agreed that the minimum wage for the local governments should also be N80,000. Now the difference is the consequential adjustment which we think that we cannot use the Federal Government’s consequential adjustment because the Federal Government’s rates are higher.
“Secondly, the Federal Government has ways and means, but both state and local governments do not have such powers. So, as we go for the consequential adjustment, we will look at what we can carry, and I need all of us to put the survival of Bayelsa State and our councils at the back of our minds as we negotiate.
“We should not fail to understand that the resources that come to the state or local government are not meant for those of us who are politicians and civil servants. The truth is that we constitute only about 15 percent of those who earn income as salaries.
“The majority of our people earn social services such as health facilities, education, security, roads, bridges and other amenities that are also being provided from those same resources. So, I really want to appeal to labour to show understanding.”
Speaking on behalf of organised labour, the state NLC chairman, Comrade Simon Barnabas, thanked the government for approving the new minimum wage for workers in the state.
Barnabas, however, called on the government to adopt the federal government template for the consequential adjustment as well as approve the N32,000 increment for pensioners as contained in the recent federal circular.
Happy
0 %
Sad
0 %
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
0 %
Surprise
0 %
0
0