ABUJA, Nigeria – The Trade Union Congress, TUC, has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to increase the minimum wage for Nigerian workers to help alleviate the impact of fuel subsidy removal.
The TUC insists that this action be implemented before the end of June to enforce the Petroleum Industry Act and adjust for the Cost of Living Allowance, COLA.
Festus Osifo, the President, and Nuhu Toro, the General Secretary of TUC, jointly signed a statement on Monday, June 5, 2023, outlining these demands during their ongoing negotiations with the government.
Among the demands is a call to maintain the current pump price for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) while discussions continue, and a stipulation that state governors must commit to implementing the new minimum wage.
They also proposed a tax holiday for workers earning less than N200,000 ($500) per month and the introduction of a PMS allowance for those earning between N200,000 and N500,000 ($500 to $1,200).
Furthermore, they proposed the establishment of an intervention fund where the government would contribute N10 per liter on all locally consumed PMS.
The primary purpose of this fund would be to address longstanding national issues in education, health, and housing.
Additional demands include the review of the National Health Insurance Scheme to cover more Nigerians, preventing drug shortages, and the visitation of refineries currently under rehabilitation to establish a timeline for their completion.
Osifo also requested the President to direct the incoming Labour Minister to immediately constitute the National Labour Advisory Council, NLAC, a platform that will be used to discuss policies affecting workers.
He concluded by advocating for the provision of direct food subsidies, accessibility to the National Housing Fund, NHF, for genuine workers, the deployment of Compressed Natural Gas, CNG, across the country, and a framework to maintain and expand road and rail networks.
The TUC also proposed strategies to reduce the cost of governance and improve the state of electricity in the country.
