Salary award remains N35,000 till new minimum wage is agreed upon- NLC

By Hannah Nathan, Warri

The N35,000 salary award deal with the Federal Government will remain in place until a new minimum wage is established, according to Joe Ajaero, President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC.

This was stated by Ajaero during a Monday interview in Abuja with newsmen.

It was remembered that President Bola Tinubu, on October 1, 2023, had authorized N35,000 as the provisional salary hike for all Treasury-paid personnel for six months.

To mitigate the impact of the gasoline subsidy elimination, an agreement was made with organized labour, which included the pay award.

Only two months of the salary award, which started in September 2023, have been paid by the federal government, nevertheless.

Considering the background, while communicating Ajaero stated that the wage award payment will only be made for a brief period before the implementation of the federal minimum wage.

“We did not sign a six-month wage agreement with the Federal Government; we signed a wage agreement that will be in existence until the new minimum wage is determined.

“We are in the process of collating the compliance of the federal government on the payment of the wage award, and we have even had a conversation with the leadership of the Trade Union Congress, TUC, on this.

“We have asked our affiliates to collate the level of compliance with this, and we are still waiting for their correspondence,” he added.