Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has said his government would pay its workers more than the N30,000 approved by law as the new national Minimum Wage.
The Governor stated this on Tuesday when the leadership of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Joint Public Service Negotiating Council in Lagos paid him a courtesy visit in Ikeja.
Noting that the state was aware of the challenges faced by workers, Sanwo-Olu said government was ready to address them, hence, his administration’s decision to pay more than the N30,000 minimum wage benchmark.
According to him, the implementation of the new minimum wage would commence once the Federal Government and labour unions concluded negotiations.
“As a government, we take the issue of minimum wage very seriously. We know how important and germane it is to the wellbeing of our people. We are technically ready to implement the new minimum wage.
“I made commitment during my previous interactions with the labour unions before my assumption of office and I am still keeping to the promise made. However little it is, we will certainly pay more than N30,000 minimum wage.
“We understand the position Lagos occupies and we understand the challenges workers are facing in Lagos. If other states can raise up to that amount, I believe Lagos needs to show a bit more to appreciate workers’ contribution to the growth of our state,” he said.
The governor disclosed that he had also directed the Commissioner for Finance to look into the unpaid arrears of workers’ medical allowance, and clear the backlog.
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He further stated that the state was planning to absorb its entire workforce in the recently introduced health insurance scheme, as the Ministry of Health was harmonising the modality to ensure all workers were covered in the scheme.
On the welfare of retirees in the state Sanwo-Olu said the government would work with the Organised Labour to float a post-retirement housing scheme that would enable workers of all cadres to apply and acquire permanent homes after leaving the service.
He said that Lagos would donate land for the purpose, while the labour unions would source for finance to develop the scheme.
He also said that the government had approved discounted rent for workers occupying State-owned apartments, as it was part of the welfare programmes introduced by his administration to improve workers’ productivity.
The labour leaders described Sanwo-Olu as “a listening leader” saying he had started fulfilling promises made to the unions in the build up to the 2019 elections.
The Chairman of Lagos Council of TUC, Gbenga Ekundayo, listed re-introduction of Town Hall meeting with labour unions and appointment of more women into the state’s cabinet as part of the promises fulfilled by the Governor.
He said that the labour unions had been meeting to develop a framework that would make the government capture traders in informal sector in the tax net adding that their recommendations would be submitted to the Head of Service (HOS), Mr. Hakeem Muri-Okunola, in the coming weeks.
The NLC Lagos chapter Chairperson, Funmi Sessi, said workers were government’s partners in progress.
She commended the governor for keeping some of his promises to the workers’ unions and promised that the Labour would continue to support the government’s efforts toward improving the wellbeing of the residents and workers in the state.
