Labour defends N615,000 wage proposal as states review fiscal capacity

• NLC: Any figure below N615,000 a starvation wage
• N615,000 minimum wage proposal negotiable – TUC

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday defended its proposal, insisting that organised labour took into consideration all necessary indices before arriving at N615,000 as the new minimum wage.

It further said any figure below N615,000 will become what it described as a ‘starvation wage’, which will condemn Nigerian workers and their families to perpetual poverty.
The explanation was contained in a statement titled: ‘2024 National Minimum Wage Negotiation: How we arrived at N615,000’, which was signed by the NLC president, Joe Ajaero.

In the statement, the NLC submitted that the new hike in electricity tariff was not captured in the proposed sum as well as the recent scarcity of petrol across the nation leading to the appearance of long queues with attendant increased transport fares.

A breakdown and summary of the cost-of-living estimate showed that it was essentially an outcome of independent research conducted by the NLC and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) on the cost of meeting the primary needs of an average family across the country. Ajaero said the congresses’ research was based on a family with both parents alive and four children without the burden of having other dependents with them.

Giving a monthly breakdown, Ajaero said the labour centres pegged housing/accommodation at N40,000; electricity/power at N20,000; utility water at N10,000; kerosene/gas at N35,000; food at N9,000 for 30 days implies N270,000; transportation at N110,000; medical at N50,000; clothing at 20,000; education at N50,000 and sanitation at N10,000.

He said a questionnaire was designed and sent to all the state councils of NLC and TUC from where the questionnaires were sent to their members in all the local government areas in the country to gather the monthly cost of living for the average family, noting that the estimates deliberately removed certain elements from the basket used in calculations of this nature.

He noted that labour did not include things like expenditure on calls and data, offerings in churches and mosques, community dues, entertainment, savings and security among others. According to him, these are just for the barest necessities.

“We have to remember that the old wage expired on April 18, 2024, and a new one was expected to have come into effect on April 19, 2024. However, because of government’s inability to comply with the law that demanded negotiations for a new national minimum wage to have begun six months before the expiration of the existing one, concluding the new one has been unfortunately delayed.

“We are sure that our social partners would see our demonstration of understanding, sacrifice and reasonableness in our demands and thus accept this figure without much delay. We enjoin all well-meaning Nigerians to implore government and employers to meet our demands for the sake of justice, equity and national development,” he said.

The Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), yesterday, submitted that the fiscal capacity of states is still being reviewed to determine a sustainable national minimum wage.
A communiqué signed after its meeting by Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State said: “The 37-member tripartite committee inaugurated on the national minimum wage is still in consultation, and yet to conclude its work.

“As members of the committee, we are reviewing our individual fiscal space as state governments and the consequential impact of various recommendations to arrive at an improved minimum wage we can pay sustainably.”

The gathering received the outgoing Country Director for the World Bank, Shubham Chadhuri, and his successor, Ndiame Diop, to discuss the financial institution’s vision for transitioning.

The forum also discussed the revised National Policy on Justice (2024 -2028) from the just concluded National Summit on Justice on April 24 and 25.

The communiqué added: “Members agreed to consider the submissions from the summit as may concern their states, including recommended legal amendments, administrative improvements and policies to strengthen the justice sector.”

For the TUC, however, the proposed minimum wage of N615,000 is open to negotiation from government. TUC president, Festus Osifo, made this known in an interview on Arise Television yesterday. According to him, TUC is open to conversations and bargaining with government.

“On the amount we put forward, in reality, we understand from organised labour that when you are going for collective bargaining agreement, you would do your study, you know what is practically feasible and possible, you’ve done your analysis. What we have put forward is what we think will be the living wage and we have justification for that.

“But it is a negotiation. When you go into negotiations, we are also expecting a counteroffer from government side. They will tell us no, we cannot pay N615,000, maybe what we could pay, let’s assume is N300,000. We then enter conversations. We are open to having the conversations.

“We are not forcing our position that government must implement, either take it or leave it, no. But it is a negotiation, so we bring all our negotiation experts and tools to the table, we try to make the government understand why they must make the workers a priority,” he said.

Osifor further stated that regardless of the reassurances of various state governors to look into the matter, a lot of states in Nigeria are still struggling to pay the current minimum wage for workers.

He said: “Every worker’s day, you have governors coming to the podium and making big announcements, but when you leave there, how many of these announcements are sought through? How many of them do see the light of the day? Regrettably, over the years, we just see this as major rhetoric. I’m sorry to say but that is what it is. It’s just like a sound bite.”

entertainment, savings and security among others. According to him, these are just for the barest necessities.

“We have to remember that the old wage expired on April 18, 2024, and a new one was expected to have come into effect on April 19, 2024. However, because of government’s inability to comply with the law that demanded negotiations for a new national minimum wage to have begun six months before the expiration of the existing one, concluding the new one has been unfortunately delayed.

“We are sure that our social partners would see our demonstration of understanding, sacrifice and reasonableness in our demands and thus accept this figure without much delay. We enjoin all well-meaning Nigerians to implore government and employers to meet our demands for the sake of justice, equity and national development,” he said.

The Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), yesterday, submitted that the fiscal capacity of states is still being reviewed to determine a sustainable national minimum wage.

A communiqué signed after its meeting by Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State said: “The 37-member tripartite committee inaugurated on the national minimum wage is still in consultation, and yet to conclude its work.

“As members of the committee, we are reviewing our individual fiscal space as state governments and the consequential impact of various recommendations to arrive at an improved minimum wage we can pay sustainably.”

The gathering received the outgoing Country Director for the World Bank, Shubham Chadhuri, and his successor, Ndiame Diop, to discuss the financial institution’s vision for transitioning.

The forum also discussed the revised National Policy on Justice (2024 -2028) from the just concluded National Summit on Justice on April 24 and 25.

The communiqué added: “Members agreed to consider the submissions from the summit as may concern their states, including recommended legal amendments, administrative improvements and policies to strengthen the justice sector.”

For the TUC, however, the proposed minimum wage of N615,000 is open to negotiation from government. TUC president, Festus Osifo, made this known in an interview on Arise Television yesterday. According to him, TUC is open to conversations and bargaining with government.

“On the amount we put forward, in reality, we understand from organised labour that when you are going for collective bargaining agreement, you would do your study, you know what is practically feasible and possible, you’ve done your analysis. What we have put forward is what we think will be the living wage and we have justification for that.

“But it is a negotiation. When you go into negotiations, we are also expecting a counteroffer from government side. They will tell us no, we cannot pay N615,000, maybe what we could pay, let’s assume is N300,000. We then enter conversations. We are open to having the conversations.

“We are not forcing our position that government must implement, either take it or leave it, no. But it is a negotiation, so we bring all our negotiation experts and tools to the table, we try to make the government understand why they must make the workers a priority,” he said.

Osifor further stated that regardless of the reassurances of various state governors to look into the matter, a lot of states in Nigeria are still struggling to pay the current minimum wage for workers.

He said: “Every worker’s day, you have governors coming to the podium and making big announcements, but when you leave there, how many of these announcements are sought through? How many of them do see the light of the day? Regrettably, over the years, we just see this as major rhetoric. I’m sorry to say but that is what it is. It’s just like a sound bite.”

N20,000; utility water at N10,000; kerosene/gas at N35,000; food at N9,000 for 30 days implies N270,000; transportation at N110,000; medical at N50,000; clothing at 20,000; education at N50,000 and sanitation at N10,000.

He said a questionnaire was designed and sent to all the state councils of NLC and TUC from where the questionnaires were sent to their members in all the local government areas in the country to gather the monthly cost of living for the average family, noting that the estimates deliberately removed certain elements from the basket used in calculations of this nature.

He noted that labour did not include things like expenditure on calls and data, offerings in churches and mosques, community dues, entertainment, savings and security among others. According to him, these are just for the barest necessities.

“We have to remember that the old wage expired on April 18, 2024, and a new one was expected to have come into effect on April 19, 2024. However, because of government’s inability to comply with the law that demanded negotiations for a new national minimum wage to have begun six months before the expiration of the existing one, concluding the new one has been unfortunately delayed.

“We are sure that our social partners would see our demonstration of understanding, sacrifice and reasonableness in our demands and thus accept this figure without much delay. We enjoin all well-meaning Nigerians to implore government and employers to meet our demands for the sake of justice, equity and national development,” he said.

The Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), yesterday, submitted that the fiscal capacity of states is still being reviewed to determine a sustainable national minimum wage.

A communiqué signed after its meeting by Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State said: “The 37-member tripartite committee inaugurated on the national minimum wage is still in consultation, and yet to conclude its work.

“As members of the committee, we are reviewing our individual fiscal space as state governments and the consequential impact of various recommendations to arrive at an improved minimum wage we can pay sustainably.”

The gathering received the outgoing Country Director for the World Bank, Shubham Chadhuri, and his successor, Ndiame Diop, to discuss the financial institution’s vision for transitioning.

The forum also discussed the revised National Policy on Justice (2024 -2028) from the just concluded National Summit on Justice on April 24 and 25.

The communiqué added: “Members agreed to consider the submissions from the summit as may concern their states, including recommended legal amendments, administrative improvements and policies to strengthen the justice sector.”

For the TUC, however, the proposed minimum wage of N615,000 is open to negotiation from government. TUC president, Festus Osifo, made this known in an interview on Arise Television yesterday. According to him, TUC is open to conversations and bargaining with government.

“On the amount we put forward, in reality, we understand from organised labour that when you are going for collective bargaining agreement, you would do your study, you know what is practically feasible and possible, you’ve done your analysis. What we have put forward is what we think will be the living wage and we have justification for that.

“But it is a negotiation. When you go into negotiations, we are also expecting a counteroffer from government side. They will tell us no, we cannot pay N615,000, maybe what we could pay, let’s assume is N300,000. We then enter conversations. We are open to having the conversations.

“We are not forcing our position that government must implement, either take it or leave it, no. But it is a negotiation, so we bring all our negotiation experts and tools to the table, we try to make the government understand why they must make the workers a priority,” he said.

Osifor further stated that regardless of the reassurances of various state governors to look into the matter, a lot of states in Nigeria are still struggling to pay the current minimum wage for workers.

He said: “Every worker’s day, you have governors coming to the podium and making big announcements, but when you leave there, how many of these announcements are sought through? How many of them do see the light of the day? Regrettably, over the years, we just see this as major rhetoric. I’m sorry to say but that is what it is. It’s just like a sound bite.”