United Labour Congress of Nigeria (ULC) has called on the federal government to make the 16-Man Technical Committee more effective and empower it to conclude its work quickly.
In a statement signed by its President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, said it would engage the government at various levels to generate appropriate policies and get an upward review of the national minimum wage to N96,000 per month, which it said was long overdue.
“We shall intensify our effort through the various platforms we are currently involved in especially the 16-Man Federal Government Technical Committee to revisit the high cost of Petroleum products in Nigeria and to ensure that the general malaise bedeviling the energy sector are constructively engaged.
“The ULC shall work assiduously with the federal Government for an upward review of the national minimum wage to N96,000 per month which has been long overdue. We shall seek greater coverage of the minimum wage to include all Nigerian workers whether working in the formal or informal sectors.
According to the statement, “We shall work towards designing a wage floor that would be automatically self-adjusting just like it is done in other advanced nations of the world bearing in mind that in the US, on Sunday, the minimum wage automatically went upwards from U$8:00 per hour to U$11:00 per hour. This is a national increase of about 37.5 percent in a nation with declining inflation and low cost of living.
“We shall get involved in assisting Governments implement their respective budgets through effective budget monitoring framework and shall constitute a nation-wide committee using our respective state councils in conjunction with other civil society organizations to monitor budget implementation both at the federal and state levels. This, the Assembly believes will help government plug all leakages in their budget implementation processes.
However, the congress urged all Nigerians to stretch forth their hands of goodwill and fellowship refusing to be distracted by the fight back from retrogressive elements in the society.
“We, therefore, call on all Nigerian workers and masses including the civil society to support our effort in this direction as the struggle against the forces of oppression and under-development is arduous and can only be won by a determined and focused citizenry from all walks of life. We must not allow ourselves to be blackmailed or intimidated into silence by these forces that are bent on holding down our collective destinies as workers, peoples and as a nation”.
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