Posted by By FEMI BABAFEMI on
The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) on Tuesday said the N9,400 minimum wage was no longer realistic and proposed a minimum wage of N30,000.
The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) on Tuesday said the N9,400 minimum wage was no longer realistic and proposed a minimum wage of N30,000.
The congress, in a press statement issued in Lagos, expressed regret that Nigerian workers could no longer cope with the rising cost of living.
The statement, signed by TUC's General Secretary, Chief John Kolawole, said: 'We regard the continued maintenance of this figure (N9,400) as insensitive and morally unjustifiable at a time when the wages of political office holders have increased over a hundredfold."
The congress urged the federal, state and local governments to begin negotiations on a new minimum wage to reduce the workers' sufferings.
It alleged that the political class had failed to give the masses the dividends of their 'hard-won" democracy, and that the majority of Nigerians were unhappy.
'Reports from our members across the country indicate much bitterness about the failure of the government, coupled with devastating food crisis and hunger," it said.
On power, the congress lamented the inability of the present administration to provide efficient power supply because of the alleged misappropriation by the past administrations.
'This very unpatriotic act has crippled businesses and offices across the length and breadth of the country, and created untold harm to our economy," it said.
The TUC called on the Federal Government to prosecute those indicted by the probe panel on power.
It also urged the present administration to unfold its agenda on power supply without further delay, noting that the administration had already spent one year.
The congress restated the need to provide jobs for the teeming unemployed population in the country.
'Gainful employment is a right guaranteed in the Nigerian constitution. Its special place is noted in the Millennium Development Goals," it said.