14 reasons why Federal Government proposed N60,000 as Minimum Wage for Workers
On May 31, the Federal Government and Organized Labour failed to agree on a new national minimum wage. The government increased its initial offer by N3,000 to N60,000, while Labour reduced its demand by the same amount to N494,000. Talks, ongoing since January, aimed to expedite negotiations, but the NLC and TUC deadline on May Day passed without resolution. Despite discussions, no agreement was reached, with the government standing by its N60,000 offer.
According to an explainer by The Nation, there are 14 reasons the FG gave for a N60,000 minimum wage:
1.N35,000 wage award for all treasury-paid Federal workers.
2.N100 billion for the procurement of CNG-fuelled buses and CNG conversion kits.
3.N125 billion conditional grant and financial inclusion to MSMEs.
4.N25,000 each to be shared to 15 million households for 3 months.
5.N185 billion palliatives (loans to States) to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal.
6.N200 billion to support the cultivation of hectares of land to boost food production.
7.N75 billion to strengthen the manufacturing sector.
8.N1 trillion for student loans for higher education.
9.Release of 42,000 metric tons of grains from strategic reserves.
10Purchase and onward distribution of 60,000 metric tons of Rice from the rice millers association.
11.Recent salary increase of 25-35 per cent on all consolidated Salary structures for federal workers.
12.90% subsidy on health costs for Federal Civil Servants registered on NHIS.
13.Light rail commissioned in Abuja to relieve transportation cost till the end of the year. Lagos State had already commence same initiative with their Blue and Red lines.
14.In addition to the freedom of Civil Servants to engage in agriculture, Federal Government has approved the inclusion of ICT services for alternate sources of income.
