The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), have demanded that the Minimum Wage act should be amended every five years.
This fresh demand was made by Agnes Sessi, Chairman, Political Committee, States’ Chapter of the NLC, while presenting the memoranda of the NLC and the TUC in Lagos.
She spoke at the Public Hearing on the National Minimum Wage for Nigerian Workers, organised by the Tripartite Committee of the National Minimum Wage for South-West Zone, at Alausa, Ikeja.
She stated that the NLC and the TUC want to ensure that Nigeria law follows the best international practices, which recommended that the minimum wage law should apply to all workers.
Sessi said the review of the minimum wage would boost aggregate demand, which would further provide a boost to the economy, coming out of recession.
The chairman, political committee, also said that an enhanced minimum wage financed by increased taxation on the rich and luxury goods would promote equity and growth in the economy.
She said: “The two labour centres have agreed that there is an urgent need to review upward the minimum wage to meet current economic realities, to lift a pool of the working class out of the poverty and to bring it in conformity with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) standards.”
Sessi said based on the current realities, the two labour centres “demand for a new monthly national minimum wage of N66,500.”
