Enugu Restates Commitment To Pay Minimum Wage

Enugu State Government is prepared to pay the N18, 000 minimum wage to its workers by the end of the month, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Chidi Achife, said.

Achife said in a statement in Enugu  that the government made it clear from the beginning that it was committed to paying the minimum wage.

“Government followed suit by fully complying and had before the workers called their strike completed arrangements for the payment by the end of this month”.

“The arrears would be paid in October,” he said.

Achife said that a circular to that effect had been issued and necessary paperwork was being carried out before the workers embarked on the strike.

He said that the industrial action by the workers did not arise over the government’s refusal to pay the new wage but from a dispute over the amount to be added as enhancement to those already above the new minimum wage.

“The position of government has never been that it would not pay the minimum wage but that the resources at its disposal cannot support the salary chart proposed by labour,” he said.

Achife’s statement came in reaction to the comment of Mr Osita Okechukwu, governorship candidate of CPC in the state in the April general elections.

Okechukwu had accused the government of refusing to implement the new wage law for the workers.

Achife described the comment as ill-informed and lacking in accuracy of facts.

He further stressed that the “government remained committed to cordial working relationship with labour in the state as it is ready to implement the payment of the minimum wage.”

The Tide recalls that Enugu State workers went on a three-day warning strike on Wednesday last week but have yet to resume work after the strike was called off by labour.