The Kano branch of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) says the state government has signed an agreement to pay public workers a N20,000 wage award from March.
The chairman of the congress Kabiru Inuwa told Wazobia FM’s We Tori Dommot on Monday that the payment will subsist until a minimum wage is agreed.
Inuwa said Kano State has more than 150,000 workers, all of whom will benefit from the award.
“We are expecting it first week of next month (March) or within this month. It is for everybody until the minimum wage is signed into law,” he clarified.
Inuwa dismissed the federal government’s claim that the NLC’s nationwide rally planned for Tuesday wasagainst an existing court order.
The order only prevents workers from striking and not protesting, he said.
The NLC boss accused Abuja of being insensitive to workers’ plights and pointed out that the government hurriedly paid four months’ wage award in five days when the labor union threatened to protest.
According to him, “they were owing four months wage award. From the day the congress muted the idea of protest, in five days, they paid for four months.
“There is money but because they don’t have Nigerians at heart, they refused to pay the money until the congress decided to go on strike. Nobody wants to go on strike.”
