Delta State workers on Wednesday booed Governor Sheriff Oborevwori over his inability to make a policy statement on minimum wage.
The workers who were desperately expecting the governor to announce a new minimum wage got aggrieved when the governor finished his address without referring to the new minimum wage.
While the workers interrupted the governor with a chant of “no, no, no, we no gree, pay us our minimum wage,” Oborevwori, however, insisted that the workers cannot cajole him to pay the minimum wage.
The 2024 May Day celebration, themed, “People First,” was a carnival-like celebration in the state and featured a march past by the various affiliate unions in the state. But the governor’s address in Asaba was marred with disruptive noise from the workers, who were disappointed by the governor’s failure to make a statement over the minimum wage matter.
According to one of the union leaders, they had earlier discussed the matter with the governor; unfortunately, all attempts to make him understand them failed.
“Listen to me, listen to me, calm down, calm down, you cannot cajole me,” the governor insisted.
Meanwhile, Governor Oborevwori said his administration would set up a committee to look into workers’ demand for salary increases because of the current hardship in the country.
He commended workers in the state for their support for the emergence of his administration and the prevailing industrial harmony across the state.
He said his administration had always prioritised the welfare of workers in the state and promised to look into the issue of workers who were inadvertently omitted in the payment of promotion arrears.
“I have listened attentively to your requests and I have taken note of them; they are, no doubt, legitimate demands and as a responsible government, I will deliberate with my team on how best to address them within the limits of the resources available to us,” he said.
In an address delivered by Comrade Goodluck Ofobruku, the State Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, he said: “We want promise keeper politicians because, as workers, we keep records of promises.”
