Committe tells Area council workers when they ‘ll earn minimum wage

The committee on the minimum wage for the workers of the six area councils in the FCT, Abuja has assured that the civil servants will this February receive their wages.

The assurance is coming on the heels of the ultimatum given by workers of the six area councils to the committee put in place by the Minister of State for FCTA, Hajia Ramatu Tijani over the non implementation of the new minimum wage.

The category of workers are the area council workers as well as primary school teachers in the councils.

The committee, which is headed by the chairman of Area Councils Service Commission, has the six area council chairmen, NULGE president as well as NUT chairman all in the FCT as members.

The meeting, which held behind closed doors, agreed that since the federal government paid its workers the minimum wage in December, 2019 and the FCT Administration paid its workers in January 2020, the area councils would follow suit by February ending.

Speaking with Blueprint, FCT NULGE president, Comrade Abubakar Alhassan, said the workers were already placed on red alert should the management fail to pay as promised.

“We have given the councils ultimatum till the end of February 2020 to implement our minimum wage and pay our arrears. A committee was setup by the Minister of State for the issue to be discussed, and we had our first meeting last Friday and today we had the second meeting. 

“The resolution today is that the minimum wage shall commence by the end of this month February. The primary school teachers and the area council workers are going to receive their minimum wage. 

“Should after the end of the month nothing happens, then we cannot assure them of industrial harmony in the 6 area councils and probably in the primary schools.

“The federal government implementation began in December. As NLC chairman, I wrote the minister on 7th of January and the FCT administration began its implementation by second or third week of January when arrears were paid. 

“So we expect the area councils to queue in immediately. So by the end of January they didn’t pay and that’s why we had to come up with this ultimatum that, if the FCT administration had paid in January and FG paid in December, what stops the area councils from queuing in this February since they didn’t pay us in January?”

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