The Nigerian Labour Congress has disassociated itself from the proposed new minimum wage, N500,000.
The NLC highlighted that it is yet to adopt a position on a particular amount to be presented to the tripartite committee on the National Minimum Wage charged with fixing a new minimum wage for workers.
The NLC President, Joe Ajaero, revealed this in Yola on Saturday.
Speaking in Yola on the sidelines of the North East Zonal Public Hearing by the Tripartite Committee on National Wages, where various stakeholders canvassed for a new minimum wage, he said that the N500,000 and N700,000 being proposed as the new minimum wage are unknown to the NLC.
“The N500K, N700K you are hearing are being collated at the level of the states. In Lagos and other places, I think they are about N700,000 while in other places they are talking about N500,000, which are inputs collated from geopolitical zones.
“But the NLC secretariat has not made any presentation, these minimum figures are what is coming from the states. When we collate them then we’ll do a central presentation based on these raw materials we are getting from states.” He said.
He further explained that labour will be guided in adopting a new minimum wage based on economic frameworks which relates to the current cost of living at the states as well as the exchange rate of the naira to the dollar.
“It (minimum wage) has to be relative to cost of living in those states. You will agree with me that rent here is not as that in Abuja, and not the same thing as Lagos. So relatively speaking you won’t have a straight jacket like presentations by Labour in all the states, ”
“I don’t see why paying $300 relatively speaking will now create inflation that will cripple the businesses.
“Our currencies should be pegged in such a way that it gains its value. Until you do such, you don’t keep holding only one factor of production- which is labour down.
“Those industrialists whatever they are producing the price has gone up by over 500%.
“The worker whatever he’s buying whether food stuff and transportation the price has equally gone up in the same vein.
“All the small scale business people that sell Garri, toothpaste and vegetable will get share of it. The wage is one way you circulate prosperity. So I don’t think it will worsen it.” Ajaero added.
Chinedum Anayo