In order to cushion the effects of petrol subsidy removal, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) has demanded that Federal Government should pay N200,000 minimum wage to workers in Nigeria.
The Union,in a statement jointly signed by its President and General Secretary of TUC, Festus Osifo and Nuhu Toro respectively, said that should be done before the end of June in order to implement Petroleum Industry Act.
Reports by the Dailytrust said these were parts of the Union’s demands during their ongoing negotiation with the government.
While demanding that the consequential adjustment on Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) should be considered, Osifo, said “status quo ante of PMS pump price” should be maintained while discussion continues.
He said a representative of state governors must be a party to the communique, and that all the governors must commit to implement the new minimum wage.
According to him, “Tax holiday for employees both in government and private sector that earn less than N200,000 or 500USD monthly whichever is higher should be introduced.
“PMS allowance to be introduced for those earning between N200,000 to N500,000 or 500USD to 1,200USD whichever is higher.
The Union leader said “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 than 2%, the minimum wage will automatically increase at the same rate.”
In his words, “State Governments should immediately set up a subsidized transportation system to reduce the pressure on workers and students and for all categories of the populace.
He was reportedly concerned with “Setting up of intervention fund where government will be paying N10 per litre on all locally consumed PMS.
“The primary purpose of this fund is to solve perennial and protracted national issues in education, health and housing,” he said.
“A governance structure that will include labour, civil society and government will be put in place to manage the implementation.
Osifo, went on to call for immediate review of the National Health Insurance Scheme to cover more Nigerians and prevent out of stock of drugs.
Among other things he demanded include, visitation of the refineries that are currently undergoing rehabilitation to ascertain state of work and setting up timeline for its completion.
“The existing National Housing Fund (NHF) should be made accessible to genuine workers.
“Medium Term: Deployment of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) across the country in line with the earlier promise made by government.
“Labour and government to design a framework that will be geared towards the reduction of cost of governance by 15% in 2024 and 30% by 2025.
“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,” he said.
According to him, the framework and timeline will be developed and agreed by both parties, saying the framework on this must be discussed and agreed.
Truth Live News gathered that Osifo, said the president should direct who ever will be labour minister to immediately constitute the National Labour Advisory Council (NLAC), saying that 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.
“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.
The Union leader, while suggesting that “Provision of subsidy directly for food items and the 800million dollars could be a first step.Osifo, said a strong monitoring team comprising of all parties will be constituted.”