According to Joe Ajaero, the president of the Nigeria Labour Congress, the National Minimum Wage will increase from the current N35,OO to between N100,000 and N200,000.
He claimed that the country’s rising cost of living made the dramatic increase in the minimum wage inevitable.
This was said by Ajaero on Channels Television on Tuesday night.
He spoke against the backdrop of the suspension of the strike action that the NLC and the TUC had originally planned to start on Tuesday in protest of the nation’s growing cost of living as a result of the elimination of the fuel subsidy.
After meeting with government representatives, the labor leaders called off the strike and agreed to form a committee that will, among other things, develop a new national minimum wage.
To mitigate the effects of the loss of the fuel subsidy, the Federal Government also decided to pay all federal employees an additional N35,000 per month for the following six months.
According to Ajaero, the N35,000 wage award should not be interpreted as the new minimum wage that labor leaders will ask the government to implement.
He claims that the unions could ask for a new minimum pay of up to N200,000.
Therefore, it is a wage that is added to the minimum wage rather than a minimum wage itself. Therefore, should we negotiate a new wage of N100,000 or N200,000 in March, April, or earlier, it would be noted as a minimum wage law and should be in effect, he stated on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
The NLC President continued by saying that several aspects would be taken into account while determining a new minimum wage.
When we talk about it, certain factors like inflation and cost of living will come into play. Everything else would factor in.
“We wouldn’t go and request N65,000,” Since N65,000 is around $70, which is less than the minimum wage, we would opt for a more reasonable amount.
“The minimum wage is a legal requirement. It is not a minimum wage until it is enacted by the National Assembly, according to Ajaero.