By Mark Lenu
Some civil servants in Rivers State have thrown their weight behind their colleagues in other states to embark on strike over the nonimplementation of the new minimum wage. The states which are yet to implement the new minimum wage are Katsina, Cross River and Zamfara and may likely face strike from Monday December 2 according to the organised labour.
33 states and the Federal Capital Territory have complied with the 2024 National Minimum Wage Act with states like Lagos and Rivers paying above the agreed N70,000. The Cross River State Chairman, of Nigeria Labour Congress, Gregory Ulayi had said that the union would embark on an indefinite strike if the state government failed to implement the new minimum wage for the workers.
He clarified that the strike which will commence from next week will serve as warning, adding that an indefinite strike would follow after the expiration of the 2-day warning strike if the government refuses to implement the new minimum wage.
With gladness over the payment of N85,000 as a new minimum wage for Rivers civil servants by their Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, the state workers knocked other state governors who are yet to comply with the new national minimum wage.
A group of concerned civil servants in Rivers State led by a senior staff, Johnson Pepple told our correspondent that the workers in Rivers State have given their full support to any state whose workers will embark on strike over unpaid new minimum wage.
“The political class plunged the nation into this current state of economic hardship, not the civil servants. So, no reason is cogent enough not to pay the new minimum wage.
“We are in total support of workers’ strike in any state that fails to implement the new minimum wage,” they said.
