Naira devaluation: TUC to demand new minimum wage in 2015

 

The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has said the congress will demand a wage increase for workers in the new year, following the devaluation of the naira by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The National President of the Congress, Alhaji Bobboi Kaigama, disclosed this at the end of the NUT’s National Executive Council meeting in the early hours of Sunday in Lagos.

Kaigama said wage hike had become necessary because the current devaluation had started impacting negatively on Nigerian workers.

He added that “the issue of wage is a dynamic thing. In stabilised economies, wages are directly proportional to the inflation trend of that country.

He, therefore, said “if the issue on devaluation persists, the Congress will have no option but to enter the New Year with a demand for increase in workers’ pay.”

Meanwhile, TUC, on Sunday, advised the Federal Government to address grievances of oil workers’ unions that threatened to embark on indefinite industrial action from Monday.

This plea was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of the NUT’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Lagos.

The communiqué was jointly signed by the TUC president, Comrade Bobboi Kaigama, and General Secretary, Mr Musa Lawal.

The National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) had issued a notice to commence an indefinite strike on Monday if their grievances were not addressed.