- Adalo said NEC appealed to the council chairmen to implement the N70,000 national minimum wage.
- He said the chairmen had, however, refused to respond to the demand for implementation of the minimum wage in their respective councils.
The Federal Capital Territory Council of the Nigeria Labour Congress has ordered workers in the six area councils to begin an indefinite strike starting December 1, 2024.
This directive was given by the FCT NLC chairman, Knabanyi Adalo, in a statement released on November 30.
The strike is a response to the area council chairpersons’ refusal to implement the N70,000 national minimum wage and settle outstanding entitlements.
Labour unions had threatened to go on strike starting November 30, citing the FCT Administration’s failure to engage with union representatives or address wage concerns since the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike’s, inauguration in August 2023.
Following the threat, the minister approved the minimum wage payment for FCTA workers.
In a statement, Anthony Odeh, the acting head of the FCTA civil service, said Wike approved the wage increase and authorized the payment of three months’ arrears, effective November 2024.
This decision aimed to alleviate the plight of workers under the FCTA.
However, Adalo announced that the strike aligns with the NLC National Executive Council’s communique issued during its meeting on November 8 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
The communique called for strict adherence to the national directive if the minimum wage was not implemented by November 30.
Adalo noted that the area council chairpersons had refused to respond to the demand for implementing the minimum wage in their respective area councils.
“The state administrative council also noted with deep frustration the persistent delay and outright refusal by the area councils’ chairmen to pay some pending entitlements to the workers, including the outstanding arrears of primary school teachers,” Adalo said.
He emphasised that the failure to implement the new national minimum wage is a blatant violation of the law and a complete disregard for the welfare and well-being of workers in the area councils.
“Therefore, all workers in the six area councils in FCT are hereby directed without hesitation to proceed on an indefinite strike beginning from December 1, until further directives,” he said.
President Bola Tinubu signed the National Minimum Wage Act 2024 Amendment Bill into law on July 29, approving a minimum wage increase for civil servants from N30,000 to N70,000.
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