Abia will be among the first to pay new minimum wage – Gov. Alex Otti | Read More
As the Organised Labour continue to negotiate with the federal government on a new minimum wage, the Abia state governor, Dr. Alex Otti, has pledged that he will be among the first to pay any amount agreed on.
The governor gave this assurance in his address tagged: “Building the New Abia: One Year After ” to mark his one year in office on May 29.
In his words;
“The Labour Party government in Abia emerged in large part because of the untiring support of the workers who believed our promise that we shall pay them their entitlements as at when due. At our inauguration, we made a firm declaration that every legitimate employee of the State Government shall be paid on or before the 28th of every month.
I am glad to report that in the last 12 months, we have honoured our promise to the workers as not for once have we defaulted on our commitment to pay on a deadline that became the new standard.
We promised earlier in the year to raise the take-home pay of our hard working civil servants in the light of the present economic realities. Our proposal had been delayed by the difficulty in reaching an agreement on the new minimum wage between the organised labour unions and the Federal Government.
We are, however, conscious of our promise and as soon as a headway is made, Abia will be amongst the first to pay whatever becomes the new national minimum wage. The patience, understanding and sacrifices of the workers are very much appreciated, and shall never be taken for granted.”The last meeting between Labour and federal government on the new minimum wage ended without any fruitful result as Labour rejected FG’s N60,000 offer as against N494,000.
