The government of Cross River has approved N70,000 as minimum wage for state civil servants, effective December 1.

The approval was given in addition to the consequential adjustment across all cadres of the state workforce.

The agreement between the government and labour was signed following a series of meetings that started on Thursday.

While confirming the development, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) chairman, Monday Ogbodum, said that the unions will hold a congress on Monday to decide the next line of action.

“It is true that we have reached and signed an agreement on the implementation of the new minimum wage with the government. This also includes the consequential adjustment.

“This agreement was reached taking the peculiarity of the state into consideration,” he stated.

On whether the labour will join the strike proposed at midnight on Monday, Mr Ogbodum said, “We will be meeting on Monday to decide on the next line of action.”

Some state chapters of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) will begin strike on Monday to demand the implementation of the N70,000 new minimum wage.

The decision follows alleged persistent delays by some state governments in adopting and implementing the 2024 National Minimum Wage Act.

The strike is expected to affect workers in Abia, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Enugu, Imo, Nasarawa, Kaduna, Katsina, Oyo, Sokoto, Yobe, Zamfara, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

These states reportedly failed to adopt the new wage structure, frustrating workers.

(NAN)