How the NLC arrived at the N615,000 minimum wage

The President of the Nigerian Labor Congress, Joe Ajaero, on Thursday explained how the congress arrived at the N615,000 minimum wage proposal it submitted to the Tripartite Committee on Minimum Wage.

Recent reforms in Nigeria, including the removal of fuel subsidy and the unification of the foreign exchange market, have raised the cost of living to newer levels.

Inflation figures reached 33.2 percent in March, further aggravating a troubled economy.

Since then, unions and the federal government have been locked in negotiations over measures including a new minimum wage to cushion the impacts of the tough economy.

The NLC proposes a monthly salary of N615,000 for workers, a jump from the current N30,000.

Although many believe it is unrealistic, the union believes many states can afford it if they get their priorities right.

Ajaero in the statement said the figure was the product of a painstaking effort through which Congress captured the cost of living of Nigerian workers and masses in all parts of the country.

He further described the figure as essentially the result of an independent investigation by the NLC and the Trades Union Congress into the cost of meeting the primary needs of an average family across the country.

The research was said to be based on a family with both parents alive and four children without the burden of having other dependents with them.

“A questionnaire was designed and sent to all NLC and TUC State Councils from where these questionnaires were sent to our members in all local government areas of the country to collect the monthly cost of living of the average family as described above.

“Below is a summary of our findings and we hope this will enable Nigerians to understand what is driving our demand to achieve greater clarity and create better engagement around the ongoing national minimum wage negotiation process,” the leader explained. union.

Presenting the summary, Ajaero further noted that the union arrived at the figure before the increase in the electricity rate and the recent gasoline shortage throughout the country, which caused the appearance of long queues with the consequent increase in transportation rates. .

He described anything below that amount as a starvation wage that would condemn Nigerian workers and their families to perpetual poverty.

“We have to remember that the previous one expired on April 18, 2024 and a new one is expected to come into effect on April 19, 2024. However, due to the government’s inability to comply with the Law that required that Negotiations for a new national minimum wage would have begun six months before the expiration of the existing one, concluding that the new one has unfortunately been delayed,” he added.