Edo street sweepers protest ‘N17,820’ monthly pay, demand salary increase

Street sweepers in Edo have protested against the payment of N17,820 as their salary by the state waste management board.

In May 2022, Godwin Obaseki, governor of Edo, approved N40,000 as the minimum wage for workers in the state.

The sweepers, who were majorly women, on Monday, staged a protest in Benin city, the state’s capital to demand a pay rise.

They took the protest to the secretariat of the Edo chapter of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) to express their grievances.

The protesters, who were dressed in their uniforms, carried placards with inscriptions such as “We need increment in our salary”, “We are tired of N17,820” among others.

Speaking on behalf of her colleagues, Glory Efosa said they had been receiving the amount for the past six years.

She said with the current economic realities, they can no longer cope with such a meagre salary, calling for a wage increase.

“They pay us N18,000 but when they deduct the tax, we will be left with N17,820. We have complained and written several letters calling for increment but to no avail,” she said.

“We started receiving this amount as salary during the administration of Gov. Adams Oshiomhole and we are still being paid the same salary.

“Anytime we go on protest, the general manager would say we don’t have employment letters.

“They would tell us that Governor Godwin Obaseki said he didn’t recognise us as working with the government, but if they want to do anything in Benin and they want to make the city look beautiful, they will come to call us.

“For instance, after finishing our own task on Saturday, they asked us to go to New Benin and clean it up and we went.

“The general manager was present during the cleaning and when we wanted to bring the matter up, we were asked to hold on and that was how we abandoned the matter.

“Now, we are having a president who has removed fuel subsidy and things are now very expensive; that money cannot take us anywhere.

“How do they want us to pay our children’s school fees and our house rent? How do they want us to feed ourselves and our families?”

While commending the governor for increasing the minimum wage, Efosa said their own salaries should also be increased to enhance their survival.