Labour to push for minimum wage again amid galloping inflation

• According to him, it was imperative that the minimum wage paid to workers reflect a rise in inflation every year.

The Organised Labour says one of its goals in 2025 is to demand for an annual increase to the N70,000 minimum wage paid to workers in Nigeria.

The president of the Trade Union Congress, TUC, Festus Osifo made the disclosure on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday.

According to him, it was imperative that the minimum wage paid to workers reflect a rise in inflation every year.

“What we are pushing on for Labour is that instead of you (the government) waiting for five years to increase the minimum wage, you will now look at the inflation of the last five years and try to make some adjustments, why can’t we reflect the inflation on an annual basis,” he asked

According to him, members of the organisation, as well as their colleagues in the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, have begun talks in that regard.

“For example, we have entered January 2025, by the 15th of January 2025, the National Bureau of Statistics is going to release the inflation figure for December.

“So, what we are pushing for as Labour is that, if for example, the inflation figure is 35%, apply that 35% to the N70,000 minimum wage so that it will become reflective of what the true value is.

“When we get to 2026, you will also do a similar application. That is actually what we are pushing. We shouldn’t be waiting for five years.

“In the new Act now is three years to do those adjustments but we could be doing them systemically by applying the inflation as of December of the preceding year to what the minimum wage is.

“This is part of the position that we are also going to canvass this year. We started the conversation last year but we will continue it in 2025,” he explained.

In July 2024, after months of protracted negotiations, the Federal Government and labour Union settled for N70,000 as new minimum wage which was later approved by President Bola Tinubu.

The increase came five years after the last review which was pegged at N30,000.

However, with the astronomic rise in cost of living, attributed to a more than quadruple hike in energy costs and petrol subsidy removal, labour unions have argued that N70,000 cannot take any worker home and thus demanded a decent living wage