National Telescope national telescope newspaper
State governors on Thursday described the amount demanded by labour unions for minimum wage as unrealistic.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) is proposing N709,000 while the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) is recommending N447,000 as the new minimum wage for workers.
This is because the states proposed a new minimum wage of between N45,000 and N70,000.
This was stated at the various public hearings of the Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage held across the six geopolitical zones.
The Federal Government in January constituted a 37-member Tripartite Committee to negotiate and agree on the new minimum wage due to take effect this year.
The tripartite panel’s public hearings are expected to get the input of the generality of the people, Labour and pressure groups, and religious and business leaders on the minimum wage.
The public hearings were held in Yola, Northeast; Kano, Northwest; Abuja, Northcentral; Uyo, Southsouth; Enugu, Southeast, and Lagos, Southwest.
The NLC and TUC chapters in the Northeast states recommended N560,000 per month while their counterparts in the Southeast asked for N540,000.
The workers in the Southwest demanded N794,000, Southsouth proposed at least N850,000 per month while in the Northwest, Labour proposed N485,000 per month.
The demand is a far distance from the current minimum wage of N30,000, which went into effect in April 2019.
According to the union leaders, the current wage has become obsolete following the increase in the price of transportation, food items and other commodities occasioned by inflation and the removal of subsidy.
