The Kaduna State chapter of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has announced the suspension of its ongoing strike over the non-payment of the N72,000 minimum wage to workers in the state.
The strike was called off for seven days to provide the state government time to revisit its payment template, which had been rejected by the union due to inconsistencies.
Ayuba Suleiman, the Chairman of the NLC in Kaduna, made the announcement during a press briefing in the state capital on Tuesday.
The decision to suspend the strike came after a meeting with government representatives late on Monday night.
“We met with the government representatives and agreed to suspend the strike for seven days to give them space to revisit their payment template. We rejected the payment because it exempted some workers, paid others less, and paid some more. We want a uniform payment template that reflects the new minimum wage,” Suleiman explained.
Suleiman expressed gratitude to the workers for their support during the strike.
“We thank you for your compliance, and we assure you that your interests are our priority. You can now return to work tomorrow morning, and we will continue to fight for your rights,” he said.
The NLC Chairman also acknowledged the approval from the National Monitoring Committee to suspend the strike.
“We contacted the NLC’s National Monitoring Committee, and they gave us the go-ahead to suspend the strike. We are confident that the state government will revisit its payment template and come up with a uniform payment structure that reflects the new minimum wage,” he said.
Suleiman clarified that the strike, which started on Monday, was in response to the state government’s failure to implement the required consequential adjustments to the new minimum wage, despite the payment of the N72,000 minimum gross salary.
Ibraheem Musa, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Uba Sani, responded by stating that the issue was not about the minimum wage itself but about salary adjustments.
“The least-paid worker in Kaduna state received N72,000 in November,” Musa said. “The issue is not about the minimum wage, but about the consequential adjustments. We urge patience, as the state’s limited revenue, which comprises an average monthly allocation of N8 billion from the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) and N4 billion in internally generated revenue, makes it difficult to implement the adjustments immediately.”
