By Johnbosco Agbakwuru
CALABAR— GOVERNOR Liyel Imoke of Cross River State and the organised labour unions in the state have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, for the continued implementation of the N18,000 minimum wage with effect from October 1, 2011.

Under the new agreement, civil servants in the state under grade level 01 step 1 will collect a monthly salary before tax of N19, 475.

According to a statement by the  Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Patrick Ugbe, the arrears of new minimum wage, which accrued for the months of October and November, 2011 when the earlier minimum wage payment was halted will be paid along with December 2011 salary to all category of workers.

He said: “Other details of the MoU include the acceptance by the state government for promotion of workers from 2007 to January, 2011 to be conducted by the Civil Service Commission through interviews while all promotions due from January 2012 onwards in the civil and public service of the state shall be by competitive promotion examinations.”

It will be recalled that the state government and the organised labour had disagreed over the implementation of the newly approved wage, which the state implemented on August last year but later raised alarm that there was calculation error that affected the state resources.

Workers in the state could not collect their December salary due to the unresolved disagreement, which was finally settled on December 29, 2011.