The organised labour has listed its expectations ahead of the 2024 Workers Day and has called on the Federal Government to announce a new minimum wage on the 1st of May, 2024.
This is coming strong on the back of the initiated policies of the government which has pushed more Nigerians into poverty which includes the Removal of Fuel subsidy amongst many others.
Here’s a statement by The National Vice President of the Trade Union Congress, Tommy Etim.
“Presently, the purchasing power is weak in the country. It is also expected that a new minimum wage will be announced on that day. Workers are looking forward to that. Also, we expect that the government will finally use the opportunity to launch the CNG buses which it promised over a year ago. These are our expectations.”
Again, those were the words of The National Vice President of the Trade Union Congress , Mr Tommy Etim.
The organised labour which is composed of the Nigerian Labour Congress and TUC, have demanded N615,000 monthly as the new minimum wage for workers in the country and they said this was reached after consultations.
There are speculations that the wage might still increase, following the recent hike in electricity tariff.
In a recent motion, 42 House of Representatives were in support of a living wage for workers and all advocated that for nothing less than N100,000 per month.
After that meeting The House of Representatives set up an ad hoc committee with the mandate to review the possibility of a living wage.
It is clear that the rising cost of foodstuffs in the country has had a negative effect on the cost of living with the rising inflation that cuts across all facets of life.
In 2018, Trade Economics reported the living wage for an individual Nigerian and a Nigerian family to N43,200 per month and N137,600/respectively. This was pre fuel subsidy removal.
To be frank, presently there is rarely a labourer that can live in Nigeria with a wage less than N100,000 monthly.
Also, according to the World Bank report, the low purchasing power of the Nigerian Naira in the country occasioned by a high inflation rate has led to an increase in poverty across the country.
Some months back in February 2024, The federal government had earlier inaugurated a tripartite committee to negotiate a new minimum wage for Nigerian workers following the fuel subsidy removal and the increased cost of living.
The members of the tripartite committee met across the six geopolitical zones with workers, civil society groups, private sector players, government officials etc.
From that meeting, the Chairman of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) even stated that the new minimum wage should be N1 million considering the increased inflation rate in the country, devaluation of the naira and other macroeconomic conditions.
