NLC accuses govt of abandoning workers amid hardship - The Guardian Nigeria News

NLC President Joe Ajaero. Photo: thecable.ng

NLC President Joe Ajaero. Photo: thecable.ng

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has warned that inflation has effectively wiped out the purchasing power of Nigeria’s N70,000 minimum wage.

NLC President, Joe Ajaero, said the present minimum wage had been overtaken by the astronomical rise in the cost of food, transportation, housing, education and other essential goods and services, leaving workers with substantially reduced real incomes despite the nominal wage increase.

It demanded an immediate account of the savings from the removal of the petrol subsidy, questioning where the resources had gone three years after Nigerians were told they would be redirected to infrastructure and social services.

Relatedly, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) called on the Federal Government to urgently review the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol, saying the pump price of about N1,500 per litre was worsening the country’s cost-of-living crisis.

It also backed the demand by the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC) for a reduction in petrol prices to N500 per litre, describing it as a reflection of the economic pressure facing Nigerian workers and their families.

In an Independence Day statement, Ajaero said soaring inflation left workers increasingly unable to meet basic household expenses and demanded that negotiations for a new national wage benchmark for 2027 begin immediately.

He described the erosion of workers’ purchasing power as a survival crisis and demanded an immediate nationwide wage award for workers at the federal, state and local government levels as an emergency measure to cushion the impact of inflation.

“The N70,000 minimum wage was already destroyed by inflation before it was implemented,” Ajaero said, urging the government to establish a tripartite committee and conclude negotiations on a new wage standard for 2027 before the end of the year.

The NLC also demanded urgent measures to reduce petrol and transportation costs, arguing that “rising transport fares have become a major channel” through which higher energy costs feed into food prices, school fees, rents and other household expenses.

He said the sharp increase in petrol prices, now at about N1,430 per litre or higher in major cities, intensified transportation costs and further eroded workers’ purchasing power, while the promised benefits of subsidy removal remained largely unseen.

Ajaero said Nigerians deserved answers on the utilisation of subsidy savings, arguing that the continued rise in fuel prices translated into higher costs of food, school fees, rent, transportation and other necessities.

The May 2023 petrol price increase, according to the labour leader, placed an additional burden on workers and households, stressing that the government must urgently find ways to reduce petrol prices because transportation had become a major channel through which inflation was transmitted across the economy.

“Where exactly did the subsidy savings go? Nigerians deserve an answer, and they deserve it now,” he said.

Ajaero also criticised Nigeria’s continued dependence on imported refined petroleum despite its position as Africa’s largest oil producer, arguing that inadequate domestic refining capacity had left Nigerians exposed to international oil price movements.

HURIWA National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, stated yesterday that the proposed October 2 warning strike by public servants should serve as a warning to the Federal Government that workers can no longer cope with high fuel prices, rising transportation costs, soaring food prices, and declining purchasing power.

The association said the workers had threatened a three-day warning strike starting October 2 if the government failed to address their demands, including reducing petrol prices to N500 per litre and paying a wage award.

The workers are also demanding the immediate formation of a tripartite committee to commence negotiations for a new national minimum wage, expected to take effect in 2027.

HURIWA urged the government to treat the workers’ demands as an urgent national economic issue rather than merely a labour dispute.