Minimum Wage: Enough of flimsy excuses on workers’ demands, TUC tells FG

The Trade Union Congress, (TUC) has urged the Federal government to do the needful on the workforce agitation for wage increment rather than given flimsy excuses.

The National President of the Union, Festus Osifowokan stated this during the South-West Labour Summit themed Repositioning The Labour Movement Amidst Economic Decline in Nigeria at the International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan on Thursday.

He added that in spite of the abundant natural resources the nation is endowed with, its economy is still foot dragging.

Osifo said, “We called ourselves Giant of Africa, yet, we can’t pay reasonable minimum wage. We are tired of government telling us to continue coping.”

The TUC national president said Nigerian workers were facing a lot of financial challenges, urging Federal Government to ensure that economy of the nation is well managed so that naira can have more value and compete with others across the world.

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“Government must ensure that naira value don’t diminish again.”

He stated that what the nation workforce are agitating for is a living not minimum wage.

He suggested that minimum wage should be negotiated every two years and adjusted for inflation.

In his remark, the Deputy Governor of the state, Bayo Lawal urged the union to thread softly on the issue of minimum wages, noting that current economic hardship is not only limited to Nigeria but universe.

Lawal said the state, as part of its love for workers and pensioners, paid them 25th of every month since inception of Governor Seyi Makinde’s administration.

He said welfare of workers remained paramount to the progress and development of the state.

He, therefore, sought collaboration between the Nigeria Labour Congress and TUC in the state.