The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has rejected a proposal by the Area Council Chairmen on minimum wage payment.
Henzodaily reports that the FCT workers’ strike after their initial disagreement with the council leaders has now reached its 11th day.
It was gathered that the council chairmen had promised to implement the ₦70,000 minimum wage in January 2025, but the labour union rejected the offer.
Speaking on Tuesday, the FCT Chairman of the Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees, Abdullahi Kabir, told newsmen that the Area Council Chairmen suggested a start date of January 2025 for the new wage.
This proposal was met with opposition from the unions, who are advocating for the wage to take effect in December 2024.
The unions contended that postponing the implementation to January would result in an accumulation of arrears amounting to five months while initiating it in December would limit the arrears to four months.
“As I’m talking to you now, there is a discussion ongoing with the Area Council Chairmen. The Council Chairmen are appealing to the union that we should leave the issue of implementation till January. Meanwhile, the union is saying that the implementation should start in December. So that’s where we are. They are appealing that they will pay in January, and we are saying that they are going to pay in December.
“The basic issue is that the chairmen are appealing that they want to implement it in January. We are saying let them implement it in December. If they implement it in January, the arrears will last five months. But if they implement in December, the arrears will be four months.
“That is where we are,” Kabir told The PUNCH.
He further emphasized additional concerns, such as the absence of specific allowances for local government employees in contrast to FCTA personnel, inconsistencies in salary, and the postponement of the implementation of the 25% CONHESS and CONMESS allowances and wage awards.
“It is not only the issue of minimum wage we are talking about in the FCT. There is the issue of peculiar allowances. The FCTA has gotten their own; we are going to the same market, we pay the same rent. A lot of things like that. There is 25% CONHESS and CONMESS. There is the wage award. All these allowances have not been given to local government workers,” Kabir said.
He further emphasised the unique status of the FCT, noting that the FCT Minister acts as a stand-in for President Bola Tinubu, who serves as the de facto Governor of the FCT.
“The FCT is different from other states. The FCT minister is standing in for President Bola Tinubu as the Governor of the FCT. President Bola Tinubu is the President of the FCT. So we are supposed to benefit from all these things,” he stated, reaffirming that the strike would continue until the NLC provided a counter-directive.
“The strike did not end until the NLC called us and said this was the MoU or the agreement. Then we will know how to sort ourselves,” he stated.