The Organized Labour in Niger state has threatened to embark on indefinite strike action by Tuesday, 4th February 2020 if the state government did not pay workers the N30,000 minimum wage.
The unions therefore gave the government a 21 days ultimatum to pay the new minimum wage of N30,000 or the workers in the state would down tools.
This was the conclusion of the emergency State Executive Meeting (SEC) which ended on Friday evening.
The Organized Labour lambasted the state government over its nonchalant attitude in responding to issues raised regarding the minimum wage.
In a letter jointly signed by the state NLC Chairman, Comrade Yakubu Garba, state Chairman Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Yunusa Tanimu, the organized Labor stated that the government had given them no other option than to issue the ultimatum.
The letter titled “notice of 21 days ultimatum of indefinite strike action” called on the government to implement the N30,000 new minimum wage, consequential adjustment and also payment of the accrued arrears before Monday, 4th February 2020″.
“Failure of which it will be left with no other option than to commence an indefinite strike action by midnight of Tuesday, 4th February 2020”.
The Niger state government had said in December 2019 that its 2020 budget was based on the payment of the N30,000 minimum wage.
The government had also in many occasions stated that the state will not have any difficulty in paying the N30,000 minimum wage because the workers are already receiving N22,500, “what we need now is N7,500, we have taken care of that in the budget”, the Commissioner of Finance, Alhaji Zakari Abubakar said in December.
