The Organised Labour has announced that it will not accept a minimum wage of N62,000 or N100,000, labeling such amounts as “starvation wages” for Nigerian workers. Instead, it is insisting on a minimum wage of N250,000, which it described as a living wage necessary for an average Nigerian worker.
This position was articulated by Chris Onyeka, Assistant General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), during an appearance on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief show on Monday.
Onyeka stated that the one-week grace period given to the Federal Government would expire at midnight on Tuesday, June 11, 2024. If the government and the National Assembly fail to meet the workers’ demands by then, the NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) will convene to decide on resuming the nationwide strike that was suspended last week.
Onyeka emphasized that the NLC has never considered accepting N62,000 or N100,000 as minimum wage. He reiterated that the demand for N250,000 is based on the cost of living and market realities, including the prices of essential commodities like rice, yam, and garri.
He stated, “Our position is very clear. We have never considered accepting N62,000 or any other wage that we know is below what we know is able to take Nigerian workers home. We will not negotiate a starvation wage.
“We have never contemplated N100,000 let alone N62,000. We are still at N250,000, that is where we are, and that is what we considered enough concession to the government and the other social partners in this particular situation. We are not just driven by frivolities but the realities of the market place; realities of things we buy every day, bag of rice, yam, garri, and all of that.
“The Federal Government and the National Assembly have the call now. It is not our call. Our demand is there for them (the government) to look at and send an Executive Bill to the National Assembly, and for the National Assembly to look at what we have demanded, the various fact of the law, and then come up with a National Minimum Act that meets our demands.”
Speaking further, he stressed, “If that does not meet our demand, we have given the Federal Government a one-week notice to look at the issues and that one week expires tomorrow (Tuesday). If after tomorrow, we have not seen any tangible response from the government, the organs of the Organised Labour will meet to decide on what next.
“It was clear what we said. We said we are relaxing a nationwide indefinite strike. It’s like putting a pause on it.
“So, if you put a pause on something and the organs that govern us as trade unions decide that we should remove that pause, it means that we go back to what was in existence before,” he added.
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