The South-East chapters of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and the Trade Union Congress, TUC, have tabled ₦540,000 and ₦447,000 respectively before the Government as new minimum wage for Nigerian workers.
The duo made the proposal during the South-East Zonal Hearing organised by the Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage on Thursday in Enugu.
Fabian Nwigbo, the Chairman, NLC Enugu State Chapter, noted that the value of ₦30,000 minimum wage of 2019 had been rendered useless by inflation.
Speaking, he said, “if you consider what is going on in the country today, one won’t be talking about minimum wage anymore.
“For us, we want to propose based on the prices of commodities in Nigeria. In 2019 when we had ₦30, 000 minimum wage, a paint bucket of garri was ₦280, rice and beans were about ₦450 each while fuel was ₦145.
“This has continued to subsist till today where a litre of fuel is now ₦750 to ₦800 depending on the location.
“In the current state, a paint bucket of rice is over ₦4000 and garri ₦2,500.
“While two bedroom flat in Enugu that used to be ₦250, 000-₦300,000 is over N650,000 at the suburb and in the city it stands at ₦1.2 million yearly.
“Everything is moving up except salary paid to civil servants.
“We are praying the leadership of this country to consider the pains and sufferings of the Nigeria workers and citizens and give us something that is close to what we can use to survive,” he pleaded.
According to his breakdown of the proposal, a family of six with daily feeding of ₦2000 each, would have ₦12,000 and in 30 days it would be ₦360,000.
“We have also put hospital bills at ₦20,000, education ₦40,000, utility, ₦10,000, clothing ₦30,000, social engagement and other things at ₦10,000 per month.
“If you put them together, you have ₦540,000 which will do a little good to the workers of Nigeria and so we are proposing ₦540,000 as new minimum wage for civil servants, he said
He urged the leadership of the country to consider a review of minimum wage law every two years, saying that the issue of five years was no longer fashionable as well as leaving minimum wage in exclusive list.
He also called for the impeachment of any governor that failed to implement new minimum as well as the extension of the wage to the pensioners whom he said put in their active lives in service.
“Once it is approved, every governor and Council Chairman should start paying it across board. The issue of workers going to negotiate with their state governors should not arise,” he stated.
On his own part, Ben Asogwa, Chairman, TUC Enugu Chapter, said that the zone is on par with the ₦447,000 proposed by the TUC national leadership.
“It is small to what Nigeria workers expect but we are concerned on its implementation if more is requested, given the economic factors and indices. Any governor that refuses to pay should leave office,” he said.
However, none of the governors in the region or their representatives from the zone attended the hearing.
