Delta: Workers demand N19,000 minimum wage

Posted by admin Delta, State News Wednesday, September 7th, 2011

The leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in Delta state has insisted that anything less than N19,000 would not be accepted as minimum wage for workers, even as the union was yet to enter into negotiations with the state government on the N18,000 national minimum wage.

Daily Sun learnt that Delta State was among the first states in the federation to agree that it would implement the new minimum wage as approved by the federal government.
Chairman of the state chapter of NLC, Mike Akusu said, N19,000 wage was the stand of workers in the state, because, according to him, some states with cheaper cost of living and lower revenue profile than Delta State have approved amounts higher than the federal government’s N18,000.

He assured that although, formal negotiation has not been made between the NLC and the state government, there was a gentleman understanding between both parties that the government would pay more than N18,000.

According to him, “if states with less resources and cheaper costs of living can approve amounts higher than N18,000 as minimum wage for their workers, nothing less than N19,000 will suffice for workers in Delta,” explaining that cost of living in Delta was on the high side.

He however commended the cordial relationship between government and the organized labour in the state and urged the government to sustain the temple by avoiding industrial disputes with workers. Akusu who recalled that Delta State was the first to implement the N17,500 harmonised salary structure after the Federal Government, posited that, “if the state is already paying that, additional N1,500 is not much.”

-Sunwp_posts