THE Trade Union Congress (TUC) has urged President Bola Tinubu to raise the country’s minimum salary in order to mitigate the effects of subsidy removal.
It stated that this should be completed by the end of June in order to implement the Petroleum Industry Act, and that the resulting adjustment to the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) should be taken into account.
TUC President Festus Osifo and General Secretary Nuhu Toro, in a joint statement, said these were part of their requests during their recent negotiations with the government.
The labour leader added, “Tax holiday for employees both in government and private sector that earn less than N200,000 or 500USD monthly whichever is higher.
“PMS allowance to be introduced for those earning between N200,000 to N500,000 or 500USD to 1,200USD whichever is higher.
“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 that 2%, the minimum wage will automatically increase at the same rate.
“Setting up of intervention fund where government will be paying N10 per liter on all locally consumed PMS. The primary purpose of this fund is to solve perennial and protracted national issues in education, health and housing.
“A governance structure that will include labour, civil society and government will be put in place to manage the implementation.
“Federal government should provide mass transit vehicles for all categories of the populace.
“State Governments should immediately set up a subsidized transportation system to reduce the pressure on workers and students. The framework around this will be worked out.”
Osifo also called for an immediate review of the National Health Insurance Scheme in order to cover more Nigerians and prevent drug shortages.
According to him, he would visit the refineries that are presently undergoing rehabilitation to assess the state of the work and set a deadline for completion.
He suggested also that the president direct whoever is appointed as labor minister to immediately establish the National Labour Advisory Council (NLAC), adding that this platform will be used by government, labor, and employers to discuss issues and policies of the government that may affect workers, as well as all other mandates specified in the law.
He stated: “Provision of subsidy directly for food items, the 800million dollars could be a first step.
“The existing National Housing Fund (NHF) should be made accessible to genuine workers; the framework on this must be discussed and agreed.
“Medium Term: Deployment of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) across the country in line with the earlier promise made by government. The framework and timeline will be developed and agreed by both parties.
“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.
“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. A strong monitoring team comprising of all parties will be constituted.”
