The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), has concluded plans to file trade dispute suits with the Registrar of Trade Unions against state governments that have refused to implement the N30,000 minimum wage.
The leadership of the teachers’ union said the action became necessary after some “non-cooperative” state governors blatantly refused to implement the agreed minimum wage for teachers in their states since it was signed into law by President Muhammad Buhari in 2019.
The NUT National President, Audu Titus-Amba, in a statement in Monday, said engagements by the Union and the government has failed to yield any positive results.
“We have increasingly engaged our state governments on the issues of the N30,000 minimum wage and the consequential adjustments and have filed a trade dispute with the registrar of trade unions against some non-cooperative state governments,” Titus-Amba said.
“It is in the public domain that a loaf of bread in Nigeria today costs about N1,000 and a tin of peak cream milk is sold at about N500.
“How then can a worker on the N30,000 national minimum wage feed himself and his family through the month?
“We are in an election year, and the 2023 general elections will commence on February 25, 2023, and so on. I, therefore, urge all our members to vote wisely; but we should not vote for any candidate or party that is perceived not to be worker-friendly, no matter the inducement, persuasion, or any other consideration,” he added.