Labour unions submit new petition to raise minimum wage above N56,000

- Labour unions, NLC and TUC, have submitted another request to the minimum wage committee

- The unions want the national minimum wage to be increased above N56,000 earlier agreed upon

- They said the new request is as a result of inflation and other economic realities in the country

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have submitted a new petition to the tripartite committee on minimum wage requesting for an increase of the national minimum wage above N56,000 per month

The acting chairman of the NLC, Kiri Mohammed, disclosed this on Thursday, February 8, at the 11th Quadrennial Delegates Conference of the Nigeria Civil Service Union in Abuja, Premium Times reports.

The current national minimum wage is N18,000 per month.

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Legit.ng gathered that Mohammed said the demand for the upward review was as a result of inflation and other economic realities in the country.

He said: “We submitted our request, NLC has decided to look at the figure and modify it, we actually modified it, an upward review above N56,000.

“We have submitted it to the secretariat of the tripartite committee. The review is in conjunction with the TUC. You can’t do it alone, all of us met and decided to put heads together and look at the realities on the ground.”

Reacting to the alleged reports that the new minimum wage may not be paid this year as it was not captured in the 2018 budget, Mohammed said President Muhammadu Buhari is committed to implementing the outcomes of the ongoing negotiations for new wages for workers.

He said: “Who made the budget? I believe if they (government) are serious, we can finish this matter towards the middle of this year, June, July.

“If we can finish at that time, then before the end of the year, certainly the President must send whatever we agreed to the National Assembly for them to look at it and for him to assent it as a law. But I know that once we agreed, government would implement whatever is agreed.”

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Mohammed, however, lamented the slow pace of negotiations by the minimum wage committee.

He also said that the committee had not held any meetings since the inaugural meeting.

“We had an inaugural meeting and they have not called for a meeting. I won’t call it a deliberate delay, but it looks as if there is a deliberate delay. We have not started discussion or anything,” he said.

Legit.ng previously reported that Ben Akabueze, director general, Budget Office of the Federation, said the federal government may go for supplementary budget to implement the new minimum wage if approved by the law.

Akabueze disclosed this at the Media and CSOs Dialogue on the 2018 budget, on Wednesday, January 31, in Abuja.

He said that the 2018 budget at present cannot accommodate the proposed minimum wage by the NLC.

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Source: Legit.ng