N615,000 minimum wage demand most realistic —NLC

Joe Ajaero, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President, has said that N615,000 minimum wage demand is the most realistic amount. 

Ajaero stated this during an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today on Thursday.

The federal government had approved a pay rise of between 25 and 35 percent for civil servants across various consolidated salary structures.

But the NLC rejected the increase, saying it was too low.

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During the interview, Ajaero said that the labour unions were receiving pressure from workers, while the goverment was calling them names.

He said, “If you are talking about realistic, the N615,000 demand is the most realistic amount. And being realistic is not about collecting a salve wage. Never.

“And we have a breakdown of this into 30 items. Accommodation is about N40,000. I want to you to tell me where you can get a room and a parlour for N40,000 in Abuja. Electricity/power we allocated N20,000. The current tariff will not last you for more than one week.

“Utility and water is just N10,000. The cooking gas cylinder is filled for N14,000. You have to buy twice a month as the case may be. Food for six people: four children plus husband and wife. We allocated N9,000 per day. It’s N1,500 per person. If you calculate it, you get N240,000 per month. We look at medical and allocated N50,000, assuming you are not on admission and no major ailment.

“Education we allocated N50,000, assuming your children are on free education. Sanitation, N10,000. Transportation, N3,000 for 30 days. If you sum all the items up, you will have N615,000.”