The Lagos State Chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has explained that the N35,000 wage award in the state should not be taken as part of or in lieu of the N70,000 new minimum wage recently passed into law.
NLC Lagos State Chairman Funmi Sessi explained this in Lagos on Friday.
The congress expressed concern about a statement from a certain commission that the state was already paying more than N70,000 prescribed minimum wage to its employees.
It called for a new wage structure starting from the approved N70,000 to be worked out to reflect various cadre and salary grade levels of all categories of workers in the state’s public service as it reflected in all the allowances.
The congress, therefore, called on Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the state to constitute a wage committee to look into the immediate implementation of the N70,000 to all categories of public servants in the state.
“NLC commends the state Governor Sanwo-Olu for his commitment to the welfare of workers as evident in the state being the first to implement the N35,000 wage award palliative to public servants in the nation.
“Alluding to the N35,000 palliative wage award as part of the calculated earned income in the state is not the true situation since the wage award does not reflect on the allowances,” it said.
The congress also implored employers of labour in the private sector to adhere to the provisions of the law guiding the approved new minimum wage in the country.
According to them, the welfare of the workers, who are the lifeline of any business, should be prioritised.
“Government agencies that are saddled with the responsibility to ensure compliance should be proactive and ensure fearless to all concerned,” the congress noted.