A faction of the NLC led by Joe Ajaero has kicked against the N56,000 proposal sent to the Federal government by Ayuba Wabba-led NLC and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC.
He says it is not in line with the economic realities of the average working Nigerian and that N90,000 was a more realistic estimate.
He said this at a pre-May Day symposium, titled, “Inclusive Socio-Economic Space for Sustainable Development”. He explained that with the harsh economic climate and the rising cost of the dollar, living was not easy for workers and that N56,000 wasn’t going to do anything for them.
He opined that at N90,000 things could be easier for workers and they could perhaps brave the harsh conditions but he warned that should be dollar rise to over 500 to the naira, they’d ask for even more.
He said “No sacrifice is too much to liberate the Nigerian workers. Every year, we go to the stadium to salute those who have been enslaving us, those who have refused to pay us minimum living national wage. But since last year, we have been forced to gather under the bridge of the National Stadium, which we have named `Workers Freedom Square’. We will gather, match through the streets, take the May Day to the real owners, the Nigerian workers and masses, to tell them that there is no electricity despite the astronomical tariff, that there is no fuel, that there are no good roads, that public universities are being closed down, that there are no jobs and so on and so forth.
“Few days ago, we were told that N56.000 minimum wage proposal has been sent to the government. We want to tell you that we are not part of that because even as they were sending the proposal, they equally said that they know that the economy is bad. By the time you say that, it means that the proposal is dead on arrival. We all know that the current minimum wage is less that the electricity bill paid by most workers. On our part, we are demanding N90,000 minimum wage. The N90,000 we are demanding is with a proviso, depending on the exchange rate. If the exchange rate goes above N500 a dollar, we will ask for more.”
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