TUC demands N200,000 Minimum Wage from June ending

Against the backdrop of the fuel subsidy removal by the Federal Government, The Trade Union Congress (TUC) is demanding an increase of Minimum Wage from the current N30,000 to N200,000 before the end of June 2023 with consequential adjustment on Cost of Living Allowance (COLA), like feeding, transport, housing, etc.

The TUC in its demand at the end of the meeting with the federal government on Sunday said this should be for immediate implementation while

status quo ante of PMS pump price should be maintained while discussion continues.

The demands jointly signed by the TUC President, Festus Osifo and the Secretary General,  Nuhu Abba Toro          said a representative of state governors will be party to the communique and all the governors must commit to implement the new minimum wage.

The Congress also demanded for Tax holiday for employees both in government and private sector that earn less than N200,000 or 500USD monthly whichever is higher.
Equally in the demands is the PMS Allowance to be introduced for those earning between N200,000 to N500,000 or 500USD to 1,200USD whichever is higher, while the Exchange rate for retailing PMS in the country must be kept within a limit of +- 2% for the next ten (10) years where the fluctuation is more that 2%, the minimum wage will automatically increase at the same rate.
According to the trade centres, the federal government must also set up intervention fund where government will be paying N10 per liter on all locally consumed PMS. 

“The primary purpose of this fund is to solve perennial and protracted national issues in education, health and housing. A governance structure that will include labour, civil society and government will be put in place to manage the implementation,” the Congress said.
Amongst other demands, the TUC said federal government should provide mass transit vehicles for all categories of the populace, while state governments should immediately set up a subsidized transportation system to reduce the pressure on workers and students, noting that the framework around this will be worked out.
It also called for the immediate review of the National Health Insurance Scheme to cover more Nigerians and prevent out of stock of drugs.
The Labour leaders said Organised labour would like to visit the refineries that are currently undergoing rehabilitation to ascertain state of work and setting up timeline for its completion.
The statement read, “The president should direct who ever will be labour minister to immediately constitute the National Labour Advisory Council (NLAC). This platform will be used by government, Labour and employer to discuss issues and policies of government that may affect workers and all other mandate as specified in the law.”

It however called for provision of subsidy directly for food items, stating that the 800million dollars could be a first step, adding that the existing National Housing Fund (NHF) should be made accessible to genuine workers; the framework on this must be discussed and agreed.
On medium term, TUC demanded for the deployment of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) across the country in line with the earlier promise made by government, adding that the framework and timeline will be developed and agreed by both parties. 
Others on medium term is the fact that Labour and government must design a framework that will be geared towards the reduction of cost of governance by 15% in 2024 and 30% by 2025.
It added,  “A framework should be immediately put in place to maintain the road and expand the rail networks across the country.
“Government must design a framework for social housing policy for workers through Rent to Own System.
“The state of electricity in the country must be appraised and an action plan should be defined with time lines on how to get this fixed. 
A strong monitoring team comprising of all parties will be constituted.”