The Labour Party has appealed to President Bola Tinubu’s government to promptly address Nigerian workers’ requests within the seven-day window to renegotiate the new minimum wage.
“The current minimum wage of N30,000, or even the proposed N60,000, is far too low for Nigerian workers to survive on. With the price of a bag of rice now around N80,000, many Nigerians can’t even afford basic necessities like pepper and tomatoes,” said the party’s spokesperson, Olubunmi Odesanya, on Wednesday in Lagos.
Odesanya stated that the workers’ demands need to be addressed. “We’re not saying the government should pay N494,000 as the minimum wage, but they should seriously consider the workers’ request and come to a middle ground that reflects today’s realities.”
According to Odesanya, the cost of living has increased so much that many workers and Nigerians are struggling to survive the current economic crisis. She urged the government at all levels to reduce the cost of governance in order to free up funds to alleviate the suffering of the people.
Odesanya called on Nigeria’s elected and appointed leaders to make greater sacrifices for the benefit of the masses.
The impasse between organized labour and the federal government over the new minimum wage led to a nationwide strike on Monday, which significantly disrupted the economy. However, with the government’s commitment to raising the proposed minimum wage to N60,000 during a meeting with labour leaders on Monday evening, the unions announced a suspension of the industrial action for a week.
Previously, the government and the organized private sector had proposed lower figures of N48,000, N54,000 and N57,000, all of which were rejected by the labour unions. The unions had initially proposed N615,000 as the new minimum wage, later reducing it to N497,000 and then to N494,000 to reflect the current high cost of living.