A former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank, has called on the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress to reject any minimum wage offer from the federal government that is less than N250,000.
Frank, in a statement issued on Friday in Abuja, accused the
President Bola Tinubu-led administration of double standards in the fixing of
salaries, saying what is good for judicial office holders is good for Nigerian
workers.
He said if the bill to increase the salary of judges by 300
per cent could be hurriedly passed in the two chambers of the national
assembly, he wondered why same can not be done for workers.
Frank noted: “How can you increase the salary of an arm of
government that is already earning a humongous salary by 300 per cent and add
peanuts to the paltry N30,000 that workers have been compelled to live with in this
country as minimum wage in the last five years?
“Why did the President send an Executive Bill to the
National Assembly to effect a 300 per cent upward review in the salaries of
judicial office holders but set up a tripartite committee to negotiate a “starvation
wage” (apologies to NLC President Joe Ajaero) for suffering Nigerian workers
instead of a “living wage” he promised them on assumption of office in May last
year?”
“Any amount below N250,000.00 cannot be considered a decent
wage for Nigerian workers considering the present socio-economic hardship in
the country.
Frank stressed that the executive, legislative and judicial
arms of government ought to reduce their salaries and allowances to accommodate
Nigerian workers who could barely afford one meal a day rather than increasing
their take pay, which is already overbloated and economically, financially and
socially suffocates workers.
He, therefore,urged the leadership of organized labour to be
resolute in their demand to ensure that workers get a deserved living wage at
this time in the Nation’s developmental journey.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com