NUT GIVES EDO GOVT 7-DAY ULTIMATUM OVER MINIMUM WAGE

By GABRIEL ENOGHOLASE
BENIN - EDO State chapter of the Nigerian Union of Teachers, NUT, has given the state government a 7-day ultimatum to ensure that its members benefited from the new minimum wage.

The teachers said they will embark on an indefinite strike action with effect from July 19, should the state government fail to address the issue.

The union, in a communiqué by its chairman, Mr. Patrick Ikosimi, at the end of a meeting in Benin, demanded that all teachers' special allowances (27.5%) should be included in the new minimum wage and advised all school heads/principals and teachers to await further directives.

The decision of the teachers is coming in the wake of the state government's resolve to pay workers in the state the new minimum wage according to the agreement Governor Oshiomhole entered into with the leadership of organised labour, including the NLC, TUC and Joint Negotiating Council, JNC, last week.

Vanguard learnt that the NUT was excluded from that meeting.

According to the communiqué, 'the meeting with the government agreed that the minimum wage in the Edo State Public Service shall be N18,000 for the lowest grade of employees, i.e. GL 01 Step 01, from  June 1, 2011.

'With the upward adjustment of the minimum wage to N18,000, appropriate consequential increases have been affected in salaries across all grade levels in the core civil service that was not covered by recent sectoral wage increases granted by this administration.

'If there are sectors that have issues arising from the implementation of the new minimum wage and the consequential adjustments across the grades, such sectors were at liberty to make their cases for the consideration of the government.'