Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, have set a demand of $300 (N436,500) as the minimum wage for Nigerian workers due to the continuous dwindling value of the naira.
Comrade Benjamin Anthony, chairman of the Trade Union Side of the Joint Meeting of the National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC), made this proposal on Tuesday at the 2023 meetings of the Separate and Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council held in Goshen City, Nasarawa State.
The demand comes ahead of their negotiations on the new national minimum wage with the federal government.
According to him, the high exchange rate and removal of fuel subsidy, which have resulted in the high cost of living in the country, have made the current N30,000 minimum wage hugely insufficient.
Represented by the secretary of the union, Comrade Boma Mohammed, Mr Anthony also urged the FG to stop delaying the payment of workers’ salaries, as the challenges in the country are already unbearable.
Mr Anthony stated, “In light of the above, Labour has proposed a Living Wage of $300 (N436,500) for Nigerian Workers. This is due to the fall in the value of our currency; today if you carry N100,000 to the market, you will come back with a leather bag of items.”
“We call on the Government to immediately pay the arrears of the N35,000 wage award along with the current and expedited action on the process of getting a new living wage to bring succour to the working class people,” he added.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday, the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, expressed dissatisfaction over the inclusion of some governors in the 37-member tripartite committee on minimum wage who are currently not complying with the currently approved salary structure.
Reacting to the committee inaugurated by Vice President Kashim Shettima in Abuja on Tuesday, Mr Ajaero said, ”Most of the governors in the minimum wage committee are those who are not paying minimum wage or are paying them in breaches.”
”The governors who are in full compliance with the minimum wage are not adequately represented, so whatever made the Federal Government bring in those who are not compliant or compliant in breaches to form the bulk of the membership of the minimum wage committee from the state government, that will unfold with time,” he stated.
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