By Our Correspondent in Ilorin
Kwara state government has agreed to pay N30,000 minimum wage to its workers as negotiation continued with the organised labour in the state.
This is just as the state government directed workers currently operating microfinance banks for their salary account to immediately open accounts in commercial banks to ease salary payment.
Speaking with journalists in Ilorin on Tuesday, the Commissioner for Finance, Mrs Florence Oyeyemi, said that the directive became imperative to fast-track monthly payment of salary and avoid technical errors which could cause unnecessary delay in getting workers’ entitlements as at when due.
“All Kwara state civil servants are mandated to open salary account with commercial banks between February 5 and 18, 2020 for the purpose of salary payments, as payment will no longer be made to any Microfinance bank account moving forward”, she said.
The commissioner also said that the issue was in line with the agreements in place as negotiations on the payment of the new minimum wage reached an advanced stage.
“Th Kwara state government has agreed to pay the N30,000 minimum wage, which means no worker in the state will earn less than N30,000.
“But where we are now, regarding the ongoing negotiation with the labour is on the issue of consequential adjustment down the ladder of salary structure.
“We have a table already. The law states that, least a worker, must not earn below N30,000. On our table, those earning below N30,000 now are between levels 1 to 6.
“But because of a smooth movement down the ladder, we have to ensure that others are taken care of in terms of consequential adjustment.
“The percentage of positive change of senior civil servants on levels 7 to 17 is what we are negotiating on now.
“We’ve presented the table to the labour union and we’re expecting a feedback.The payment will start as soon as we finalise negotiation on the matter and it will be communicated to the general public,” she said.
Meanwhile, the organized labour, under the aegis of Joint Kwara Labour Congress (KJLC) has given the state government 14-day altimatum to pay the minimum wage.
It also called on its members to embark on prayer and fasting,to press home their demand.
