….Govt says negotiations ongoing
The Joint public negotiating council comprising of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade union Congress TUC, Taraba state, has accused Governor Darius Ishaku on being insensitive to the plights of civil servants for not sign the N30,000 national minimum wage into law as approved by the FG.
The accusation was made by the coucil during a press briefing held in Jalingo, the capital city of the state, north east Nigeria.
The Chairman of the council, Wilfred Yambakan described the action of the Taraba state government as an attempt to deny the workers of their right.
The council, also demanded for the immediate signing of the Agreement within seven days and implementation of same in the September salaries, beyond which they agreed to embark on industrial show down.
The Chairman stated that, the state government requested for a grace of three months to implement the negotiated minimum wage in the state in view of the ravaging effects of Covid-19 on the global economy which the state was not immune from.
He explained that on Tuesday 26th of this month, was exactly 5 months when the grace was granted but no indication by the government to sign the agreement.
The labour leader, stressed that the Covid-19 pandemic was not an excuse for the government to handle a mundane matter like the N30, 000.00 minimum wage.
He said, even in the face of Covid-19, the state has conducted local councils election as well as PDP Congresses in the state, yet workers new minimum wage was not attended to in the name of the pandemic.
Reacting to the development in a telephone interview with our Correspondent, Senior Special Adviser to the governor on Media and Publicity, Bala Dan Abu, who pleaded with the council not to embark on an industrial show down said negotiation was still ongoing.
While appreciating labour for their patience, Abu also admitted that the law allows every state to pay the minimum wage according to its capacity and appealed to the labour to await the outcome of the negotiation.
