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The Nigeria Labour Congress is seeking the intervention of lawmakers to review the national living wage, to ensure that workers can meet their basic needs.
The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Joe Ajaero, made the call during the National Retreat for Trade Union Leaders and Members of the National Assembly Committees on Labour, organised with the support of Freidrich Ebert Stiftung.
The event with the theme, “Quest for A National Living Wage in Nigeria” was held on Thursday in Uyo.
In his opening remarks, Ajaero said the quest for a living wage addresses one of the most pressing issues facing our nation today.
Ajaero said, “Through alliance building with the legislature, efforts would be made to investigate strategies for engagement, identify shared objectives, and conduct effective advocacy to guarantee the implementation of a national living wage.
“This is based on our understanding that the achievement of meaningful results, including the establishment of a national living wage, is challenging without a productive alliance between trade unions and the legislature.”
He noted that at each turn when the Nigerian nation bounces back from real or threatened recession, it had always been due to the can-do positive spirit of the workers who man the critical productive points of production and economy.
“I, therefore, want to assure you that the Committee on Employment, Labour and Productivity and indeed the entire Senate will discharge itself as the eye, skin, and mouth of the Nigerian workers whenever the Bill on the Living Wage arrives at the National Assembly,” he stated.
“With the support and determination of the National Assembly, there is the potential to pass a National Living Wage Act that not only broadens coverage to encompass more workers but also enhances the quality and quantity of the wage floor,” he added.
According to him, the Senate and indeed, the 10th National Assembly under the chairmanship of the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, will take every legislative action towards ensuring that we bring to a stop, the practice of denying our workforce its deserved true wages.
Meanwhile, he emphasised that the pursuit of a national living wage was not merely an economic necessity but a moral imperative, embodying the principles of fairness, dignity, and social justice for the Nigerian worker.
“This is crucial given the huge suffering that our people and workers have had to go through because of the economic policies of the government in the past few years and especially on the vexatious issues of petrol price hikes under the guise of subsidy withdrawal,” Ajaero said.
“Nigeria needs us, and we must protect our workplaces, make it ours so that it can work for all of us. When workers can meet their basic needs, the nation benefits as businesses are revived and the economy thrives,” Ajaero added.
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