The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has denied reports that it has agreed to a minimum wage of N100,000.
News About Nigeria reports that the labour body described the claim as “fake”.
According to labour officials, the current economic conditions make it impossible for N100,000 to be a viable minimum wage.
“We have our next plans kept close to our chests. We have learned our lessons from previous negotiations. We are aware that some people are planting stories in the media to discredit labour, but we will not be deterred,” BusinessDay quoted an NLC official.
The official pointed out that the cost of living in Nigeria makes it impossible for N100,000 to be a sufficient minimum wage.
“How much is a bag of rice in the market? If you buy one bag of rice at N70,000, how much will you have left to pay for your utility bills, school fees, transportation, and medical expenses?”
The NLC had previously demanded a minimum wage of N615,000, which was arrived at after careful consideration of the impact of fuel subsidy removal and other economic factors.
The union’s president, Joe Ajaero, stated that the NLC considered the costs of feeding, housing, gas, education, and medical expenses to determine a suitable wage for Nigerian workers to survive on.
The NLC excluded expenses like communication, tithes, and offerings from the calculation.
Ajaero noted that the removal of the fuel subsidy and subsequent price fixing, which led to fuel prices rising to over N700 per litre, significantly affected workers’ livelihoods.
The NLC also considered global experiences, including the United Nations’ position that no one can survive on less than $2 per day.
Based on this, the union estimated the monthly expenses for a family of six, including N270,000 for feeding, N40,000 for accommodation, N50,000 for education, and N50,000 for Medicare, among other expenses.
The organised labour has scheduled a meeting for Monday next week, where the National Executive Committee will meet to deliberate on reports and review all ongoing negotiations.
