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By Iheanyi Chukwudi
The organised labour in Enugu State has commended the State Governor, Dr. Ndubuisi Mbah on the new minimum wage of N80, 000 he approved for the state workforce, describing it as unprecedented.
It noted that it was the first time that Enugu workers would be earning above the national minimum wage.
This is as the Association of Local Government Workers (ALGON), Enugu State, pledged their commitment to implementing the new minimum wage.
State Chairman of ALGON, Hon. Okechukwu Edeh, said, “When you motivate workers, they become more productive. What I am promising on behalf of the Enugu ALGON family is that we are going to cascade the new minimum wage to the local government level. Implementation begins immediately."
Expressing the workers joy, the Chairman of the Enugu State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Fabian Nwigbo, thanked governor Mbah for always prioritising the welfare of workers, describing the new minimum wage as “a great one for Enugu workers.”
He said, “In the past, when minimum wage is announced, it takes up to one or two years for anything to happen; and when it did, we took anything they gave us as we saw it. But today, you have even given us something much higher than national minimum wage.
But I am not totally surprised because when other governors were paying N12,000 wage award, you were paying us N25,000. When others paid for some months and stopped, you continued paying it until the new minimum wage as you promised. So, we have enjoyed wage award for 11 months and today you announced the minimum wage which is the first of its kind since my 32 years in service."
Also speaking on the new wage, the Chairman of the Enugu State chapter of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Ben Asogwa, expressed joy that the Governor cascaded it down to even local government workers.
He said, “We are so happy. The governor did not just announce ₦80,000 minium wage, but said that it cascades down to even local government workers. He said that he does not want disparity in salary implementation in Enugu State anymore because we all go to the same market.
This is the first time in history we are seeing the implementation of minimum wage above the approved amount by the federal government.
Actually, when we entered into the negotiation, we were afraid because we know quite well that we are not among the states that share in dividends of oil money. We know quite well that we are at the back when it comes to federal allocation, but His Excellency actually surprised us.
One thing we have seen is that he understands the impact of motivation on productivity. The governor has set a pace and we know that any other person coming after him will have the challenge to meet up with the target set by His Excellency, Governor Peter Mbah.”
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