The Nigeria Labour Congress said the minimum wage of N27, 000 and N30, 000 approved for state and federal workers was a fragmentation of the wage and therefore, unacceptable.
Chairman of the Congress in Anambra State, Jerry Nnubia, told the newsmen in Awka, that the minimum wage approved by the Council of State was against the principle of collective bargaining.
He said Labour leadership expected the approval of N30, 000 recommended by the tripartite committee that handled the issue, adding that the council did not have the locus to change the content of the agreement.
He said the Federal Government should not encourage state governors to cheat Nigerian workers who also go to the same markets as federal workers.
Nnubia said that the Labour movement may be forced to apply the last tool of negotiation and shut down the country if the new differential minimum wage announced was not rescinded.
The new minimum wage as approved by the National Council of State on Tuesday was announced by Labour and Employment Minister, Dr Chris Ngige, at the end of the meeting in Abuja.
He had said the Council approved a new minimum wage of N27, 000 as benchmark and that Federal Government had agreed to pay its workers, N30, 000.
VANGUARD/IFEANYI