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The Federal Government should move quickly to implement the new minimum wage for Nigerian workers, the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria said on Thursday, lamenting the ongoing negotiations.
TUC President Comrade Festus Osifo made the call during a press briefing following the Labour movement's National Executive Council's rejection of the idea of implementing a new minimum wage before the end of May.
Lamenting the lukewarm attitude of some state governors in the payment of wage TUC said, “There is no gainsaying the fact that today, we are facing economic hardship and based on this, at the federal level, we engaged the Federal Government as you are aware, from last year, which culminated in the signing of the communique on October 2, 2023.
“And after that communique was signed, we also empowered our respective state councils to follow up with their state government to ensure two things. One, put in place palliative. Palliative is for the immediate, palliative is not a permanent solution to the economic downturn that we are facing today as a country, palliative could solve immediate challenges, but it will not be able to meet them in the long run. Palliative cannot solve our problems.
“So that is why we were also yearning for a sustainable and robust solution, a solution that would meet the yearnings of the Nigerian workers and indeed the Nigerian masses because that is why the governments are elected from the federal to the local government level.
The TUC noted with dismay that the Federal Government had not paid federal workers the wage award for March and April and called for immediate payment to cushion the economic hardship.
“Also on the issue of wage awards, the NEC-in-session frowned on the fact that the last wage award that was paid to the federal workers was February 2024 and that of March and April that are just ending have not been paid.
“So we hereby call on the government to immediately release the payment of wage award for March 2024 and April 2024 and to ensure regular payments going forward, so that at the end of April, when salary is coming in, the wage award is also paid until the new minimum wage is put in place as agreed in the communique of October 2, 2023,” he said.
“So, we demand that the committee on minimum wage should hasten its activities so that a new minimum wage will be put in place. This is the only way that the economy will be re-inflated.”
