NLC demands N794,000 as minimum wage for south-west workers

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has demanded N794,000 as the new national minimum wage for workers in the south-west zone.

Funmi Sessi, chairperson of the Lagos state chapter of the NLC, said this on Thursday during her presentation at the ongoing public hearing of the tripartite committee on national minimum wage in Lagos.

According to Punch, Sessi said the demand was agreed upon by all the members of the union in the south-west.

On January 30, the federal government inaugurated a 37-member tripartite committee on national minimum wage.

The committee is tasked with the responsibility of recommending a new national minimum wage for Nigerian workers.

The committee, comprising representatives of the federal and state governments, private sector and organised labour, is chaired by Bukar Goni Aji, former head of service of the federation.

Speaking during an interview on Arise Television in February, Joe Ajaero, NLC president, said the new minimum wage for workers should be N1 million.

The NLC president said the demand is a reflection of galloping inflation in the country and the depreciation of the naira.

“This N1 million may be relevant if the value of the Nigerian (naira) continues to depreciate and if the inflation is not checked because the demand of labour is equally dependent on what is happening in the society,” Ajaero said.

“You will remember that by the time we were contemplating N200,000, the exchange rate was about N800/N900. As we talk today, the exchange rate is about N1,400 or even more.”