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A former treasurer of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Comrade Bamgbose Betty has called on members of the National Assembly to place themselves on the meager minimum wage to know what living from hand to mouth feels like.
Currently, the minimum wage for Nigerian workers is ₦30,000 and the labour union wants it to be increased to almost ₦500,000
While addressing journalists in Lagos amid the nationwide strike declared by the labour union, the NLC member said the suffering is unbearable.
“I said the suffering is too much, yes. When you get paid, within two or three days, the salary is nowhere to be found. Is that not suffering? The suffering is too much.
“The Federal Government, the NLC, and the TUC keep going to the roundtable, they’ve been on this roundtable for so long. They don’t feel they should be putting ₦200 today, ₦300 tomorrow, ₦500 the next day for our minimum wage. Enough is enough. For them to know where the shoe pinches us, let the Senate put their salaries on this minimum wage, and let’s see what would happen. Let it go round so they would know where the shoe pinches,” Bamgbose said.
The NLC embarked on a nationwide strike on Monday, June 3, 2024, after the Federal Government failed to accept their demands on minimum wage.
The union had asked the FG to increase the wage from ₦30,000 to ₦497,000.
Meanwhile, in a bid to resolve the ongoing strike, the Federal Government, through the National Salaries Wages and Income Commission, has invited the leaders of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) to a meeting on Tuesday, June 4, 2024.