Minimum wage: Workers can no longer survive on N70,000 – TUC
The Trade Union Congress has decried the high rate of inflation in the country which has been further affected by the recent hike in the prices of Premium Motor Spirit popularly known as petrol.
The National Vice President of the TUC, Tommy Etim, who spoke to our correspondent in a phone interview in Abuja on Friday disclosed that the N70,000 minimum wage approved by the administration of President Bola Tinubu before the hike in fuel prices could no longer sustain federal civil servants.
Earlier, Labour had accused Tinubu of betrayal over the announcement of the hike in fuel prices by Nigeria’s largest PMS retailer, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited.
After negotiations by the government, the Organised Private Sector and the Labour Centres, the minimum wage was raised from N30,000 to N70,000.
The negotiations, spanning many weeks, produced an agreement on July 18.
The bill giving effect to the agreement passed by the National Assembly was signed into law by President Bola Tinubu on July 29.
A committee on consequential adjustment constituted by the Federal Government submitted its report in September, providing guidelines for employers of labour.
The committee was chaired by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Esther Walson-Jack.
Though the Federal Government has commenced the implementation of the minimum wage, Labour insists that federal workers’ take home can no longer “take them home.”
But Etim said, “Federal workers are finding it extremely hard to survive on the new minimum wage owing to the rise in inflation and the recent hike in fuel prices. The minimum wage was negotiated before these things so you can imagine what federal workers are going through.”
While commenting on a statement by a federal lawmaker and former national president of NLC, Adams Oshiomhole, that states with higher revenue pay more than N70,000 for the benefit of workers, Etim added, “Where was he when we were negotiating the national minimum wage. So, what happens to federal workers? Do they continue to languish in poverty?
“I think it’s not fair that after negotiations, you start to experience arbitrary hikes in fuel prices which has even nullified the purpose for which the minimum wage was negotiated.”
Meanwhile, no fewer than 13 states have approved minimum wages higher than N70,000 in their states.
The highest so far – N85,000 – is being paid by Lagos and Rivers states.
Bayelsa, Niger, Enugu and Akwa Ibom states have followed closely with N80,000.
Ebonyi pays N75,000; Delta, N77,000; Gombe, N71,000; Ogun, N77,000; Kebbi, N75,000; Ondo, N73,000; and Kogi pays N72,000.
