Again, Labour Demands N500,000 New Wage

Again, organised labour is demanding for N500,000 as federal government has announced its readiness to release new national minimum wage, organised labour has reminded government that Nigerian workers need maximum and no longer minimum wage to reflect the current economic realities.

Concerned on the current economic reality, the leadership of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in a fresh demand charged Nigerian workers to demand for Maximum Wage, no longer minimum National Wage to reflect the economic hardship.

NLC president, Comrade Joe Ajaero who made this fresh request known today cited the economic conditions whereby the current national wage has become peanut money as reason for his call.

Ajaero said workers’ demands must reflect real purchasing power, not nominal amounts.

Ajaero accused the federal government of benefiting from the recent surge in fuel prices while workers and other Nigerians struggle with rising transportation costs, food prices, and declining purchasing power.

According to Ajaero “workers’ demands must reflect real purchasing power, not nominal amounts.

“Assuming one naira is equal to $1, I would advise Nigerian workers to remain at N70,000 because that would be big money for them, but you can see that you can equally get one million naira and a bag of rice is ₦500,000, so what of that? What happens?”

It would be recalled that the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Dr Kamil Shoretire, disclosed the planned increase week.

According to him, “the Federal Government is working towards announcing a new national minimum wage to help reduce the economic hardship faced by Nigerian workers.”

Shoretire said discussions were already ongoing between the government and other stakeholders on the new wage.
He said the government had not fixed a date for formal negotiations but was working towards reaching an agreement.

“We are yet to announce the timetable for that, but background discussions are already ongoing,” he said.

He added that the details of the proposed negotiations would be made public when the process reaches the appropriate stage.

“When it’s time to get the press involved in what has been proposed and what is being negotiated, it will be revealed to you,” he added.

The permanent secretary also said the government was engaging workers in sectors where disputes over salaries and allowances were still unresolved.