The Enugu State government has faulted claims by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) that it has refused to dialogue with the organized labour over disagreements on the implementation of the minimum wage law, even as community and religious leaders have criticised what they described as labour’s hasty decision to declare an indefinite strike in the state.

A statement issued by Chuks Ugwoke, Commissioner for Information read in part: “It is on record that the local chapters of organized labour met thrice with the Enugu State government on the minimum wage before now. Two of the parleys held with Governor Sullivan Chime in attendance, in fact he was the person who actually initiated them. Also, the team that came from the NLC national headquarters prior to Thursday’s ill-advised event also met with government’s officials.

“During that meeting, the government representatives had pleaded with the national officers to allow them discuss further with the leaders of the local chapters who also expressed willingness to negotiate. After that meeting, the government paid N18,500 as minimum wage in August,” the first in the South-East geo-political zone to have fully implemented the minimum wage law. “Let me hasten to further clarify that this was in addition to paying the April to July arrears of the minimum wage.”

The commissioner wondered the rationale behind the attempt by the NLC to paint a different picture. “Will any of the labour leaders say that Enugu State government did not pay N18,500 as the minimum wage in August as prescribed by law? Since this was done, what is then the justification for calling out workers on strike? If the workers have other demands, would it not be nice to allow the government and the local chapters of the labour unions to dialogue after which the national body can intervene if there’s a deadlock? At all times, the government of Governor Chime will continue to pay priority attention to the welfare of the workers who are our partners in progress.”

Also speaking on the matter, veteran journalist and the Igwe of Ogui-Nike in Enugu North Local Government Council, Igwe Tony Ojukwu called for restraint on the part of labour. “If we say that charity begins at home, it goes also that dialogue must begin at home. I would want a situation where the labour unions and the government are allowed to dialogue and possibly reach a compromise.

“It is only in the event of a deadlock that the national body should step in. This time, I don’t think both parties have exhausted the opportunities for dialogue to warrant what we have in our hands now. Afterall, how many states have implemented the new minimum wage? Or is our own in Enugu (state) different?”

Speaking in the same vein, the Anglican Bishop of Enugu, Rev. (Dr) Emmanuel Chukwuma called for prayers and tolerance. Said he: “I urge that everybody should pray to God to help us out of this unfortunate situation so that our people can go back to work. We don’t want to quarrel again in Enugu State, we don’t want anything that can affect the peace and progress we’ve been enjoying in the state.”

Catholic monsignor (Prof) Obiora Ike insists that negotiation, not confrontation is the way forward. According to him, “we’ve sat down to reflect on this matter in all its dimensions and we’ve decided to appeal to our people to agree to a roundtable discussion. I’m just coming back from Sokoto (ordination of Monsignor Hassan Kukah as Bishop of Sokoto) and from all the discussions we’ve had on this minimum wage issue, it came to the fore that not many states have done as much as Enugu. If there are other grey areas, we must come together first to seek a consensus before we seek outside intervention.

Commercial activities continued without hindrance yesterday in the capital city of Enugu as markets, banks, petrol stations and other businesses opened to businesses even as the ministries transacted official duties, though many workers stayed away from their offices.