Fresh request: Labour reportedly demands N66,500 new minimum wage

The organised labour has reportedly submitted a new memorandum to minimum wage committee set up by the federal government.

The new memorandum allegedly includes a fresh demand of N66,500 as new minimum wage.

 The NLC president, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, confirmed the submission of the new memorandum but declined to comment on the new minimum wage figure.

Organised labour in the country, comprising Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), has reportedly resubmitted a joint memorandum to the tripartite committee on the new minimum wage. Leadership reports that the new memorandum contains a new demand of N66,500.

“Based on the three approaches, and the independent study result reported above, the two Labour centres demand for a new monthly National Minimum Wage of N66,500, which is approximately the average of the implied minimum wages derived under the four approaches,” the memorandum stated

The four approaches are minimum wage for some African countries; analysis based on the minimum cost of providing basic needs; a living wage approach and analysis based on rising cost of living.

Labour said it is no longer news that the current national minimum wage of N18,000, which was approved in 2011, can no longer sustain the standard of living of an average Nigerian worker.

 Speaking to journalists in Abuja, the president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Ayuba Wabba, reportedly confirmed the new memorandum submitted to the tripartite committee but did not confirm the new figure.

The general secretary, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Peter Ozo-Eson, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday, April 9.

Recall that Organised Labour had two years ago demanded for N56,000 as the national minimum wage for workers in the country. Ozo-Eson said that a fresh demand for the higher wage was submitted at the last meeting of the tripartite committee on March 27.