Benue State government and labour union leaders in the state have reached interim agreement on payment of the N30,000 national minimum wage to civil servants beginning from end of December
Secretary to the State Government (SSG) Professor Anthony Ijohor, SAN, disclosed this when he briefed journalists after a meeting between Governor Ortom and labor leaders in the state.
Ijohor said it was agreed that implementation of the new minimum wage for civil servants on grade levels one to six starts immediately.
He however, explained that implementation for civil servants on grade level seven and above would be put on hold and discussions on same resume after detailed cleaning of the payroll which is currently ongoing.
“We had a very frank discussion with labour putting all facts on the table. We took into consideration several factors including the downfall in federal allocation as well as the recession and we agreed that those on level seven and above should be stepped down for now.
He said no arrears would be considered but that payment would commence from this month of agreement.
Also speaking to journalists, State Chairman Joint Negotiations Councils 1, 2 and 3, Ojema Ojotu said the union leaders agreed with the state government based on current realities including economic recession which had resulted to a drop in revenue accruals from federation account and the ongoing cleaning up of the payroll.
He stated that labour unions were keenly following the cleaning exercise and were optimistic it would yield positive results.
He noted that it was actually worrisome for the wage bill to keep increasing when civil servants had retired with many deaths recorded.
He said labour had rejected the offer to add N500 as flat rate to all categories of civil servant from level seven and above saying, “instead of going to tell our members that N500 has been added to their salaries, we rather prefer that they should keep that of seven and above in view pending when we are out of recession and when the payroll has been cleaned up, then we shall come back and look at a more realistic way of dressing it. They call it consequential adjustment”, he said.
Mr. Ojotu who expressed faith in the interim agreement with the state government stated that they would not hesitate to put forward a reminder at the appropriate time.
