NLC demands N794,000 minimum wage for South-West workers

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has called for N794,000 as the new national minimum wage for workers in the South-West region of the country.

The chairman of the Lagos State branch of the NLC, Funmi Sessi, made the demand during her presentation at the public hearing of the Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage in Lagos on Thursday, March 7, 2024.

Sessi said the demand was jointly agreed upon by all members of the union in the South-West geopolitical zone.

It would be recalled that President Bola Tinubu, through Vice President Kashim Shettima, inaugurated a 37-member panel on the new minimum at the Presidential Villa in Abuja in January 2024.

However, the NLC President, Joe Ajaero, recently said if the ongoing inflation continued unabated, organised labour might push for a new minimum wage of up to N1 million for Nigerian workers.

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Ajaero said the demand from organised labour would be influenced by the cost of living which has been increasing since President Tinubu assumed office, following the removal of the fuel subsidy and other policies.

The NLC boss said: “This N1 million may be relevant if the value of the naira continues to depreciate; if the inflation continues unchecked because the demand of labour is equally dependent on what is happening in the society.

“You will remember that by the time we were contemplating N200,000 as minimum wage, the exchange rate was about N800/N900 (to a dollar). As we talk today, the exchange rate is about N1,400 or even more.

“Those are the issues that determine the demand and it is equally affecting the cost of living. And we have always said that our demand will be based on the cost of living index.”

The Star