The Trade Union Congress (TUC) of Nigeria expressed dissatisfaction with the sluggish progress in negotiations concerning a new minimum wage.
The TUC President, Comrade Festus Osifo, emphasized the urgency for the Federal Government to expedite the process during a press briefing following the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the labour movement.
Comrade Osifo underscored that the prospect of implementing a new minimum wage before the end of April is improbable, indicating a potential delay until May.
He also raised concerns about certain states in the Niger Delta region, particularly Delta, Imo, and Benue, for their failure to disburse wage awards or palliatives to their employees, despite receiving substantial allocations from the Federation Account.
Furthermore, the TUC criticized the Federal Government’s delay in disbursing wage awards to federal workers for the months of March and April.
Comrade Osifo highlighted the importance of timely payments to alleviate economic hardships faced by workers.
He stated, “The NEC in session discussed the issues of minimum wage and that government has to do everything possible to ensure that this is fast tracked because the only way you can inflate your economy is when you empower the working class. The only way you can inflate your economy is when people have money to purchase goods in the supermarket, when people have money to go to the regular market to purchase items. If there is no money to purchase these items, if the purchasing power parity is relatively low, what is going to happen?
So, we demand that the committee orf minimum wage, should hasten their activities so that a new minimum wage will be put in place. This is the only way that the economy will be re inflated.”
Additionally, Comrade Osifo urged the revision of outdated labor laws in the country, emphasizing the persistent efforts to enact new legislation without success.
Regarding wage awards, he remarked, “Then also in the issue of wage award, the NEC in session also 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 is just ending have not been paid.
“So we hereby call on government to immediately, release the payment of wage award for March 2024 and April 2024 and to ensure regular payments moving 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 of 2023.”