Minimum Wage: Kaduna Workers Down Tools, Disagree With State Govt

Workers in Kaduna State downed tools on Monday, with Comrade Ayuba Suleiman of the state chapter of the workers’ union stating that they had yet to reach a concrete agreement with the state government regarding the implementation of the new minimum wage.

Suleiman explained that although the state government had begun paying the new wage, it was not done according to the terms previously agreed upon by both parties. As a result, the workers embarked on strike following a directive from the national body of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).

However, Sani Liman Kila, Chief of Staff at the Sir Kashim Ibrahim House in Kaduna, speaking to the BBC Hausa Service, clarified that the state government had started paying the new minimum wage as early as November.

“Every worker in Kaduna State was paid the new salary last November,” Kila said. “We were surprised by their action. We can’t say what really happened. That was the first payment, and it’s obvious there would be technical errors, as it’s processed by a computer.”

He added that there had been several meetings between government officials and the labour unions, during which the government had pleaded for more time to resolve the issues.

VANGUARD