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Subsidy removal: TUC demands N200,000 minimum wage from Tinubu

Published

4 months ago

June 6, 2023

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR

Subsidy removal: TUC demands N200,000 minimum wage from Tinubu

The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has called on President Bola Tinubu to jerk up the minimum wage of workers in the country in order to cushion the effects of subsidy removal.

It said that should be done before the end of June in order to implement Petroleum Industry Act, adding that the consequential adjustment on Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) should be considered.

President and General Secretary of TUC, Festus Osifo and Nuhu Toro respectively, in a statement jointly signed said these were parts of their demands during their ongoing negotiation with the government.

Osifo said they also demanded that the “status quo ante of PMS pump price” should be maintained while discussion continues, adding that a representative of state governors must be a party to the communique, and that all the governors must commit to implement the new minimum wage.

The labour leader added, “Tax holiday for employees both in government and private sector that earn less than N200,000 or 500USD monthly whichever is higher.

“PMS allowance to be introduced for those earning between N200,000 to N500,000 or 500USD to 1,200USD whichever is higher.

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“The exchange rate for retailing PMS in the country must be kept within a limit of +- 2% for the next ten (10) years where the fluctuation is more that 2%, the minimum wage will automatically increase at the same rate.

“Setting up of intervention fund where government will be paying N10 per liter on all locally consumed PMS. The primary purpose of this fund is to solve perennial and protracted national issues in education, health and housing.

“A governance structure that will include labour, civil society and government will be put in place to manage the implementation.

“Federal government should provide mass transit vehicles for all categories of the populace.

“State Governments should immediately set up a subsidized transportation system to reduce the pressure on workers and students. The framework around this will be worked out.”

Osifo also called for immediate review of the National Health Insurance Scheme to cover more Nigerians and prevent out of stock of drugs.

According to him, visitation of the refineries that are currently undergoing rehabilitation to ascertain state of work and setting up timeline for its completion.

He said the president should direct who ever will be labour minister to immediately constitute the National Labour Advisory Council (NLAC), saying that this platform will be used by government, Labour and employer to discuss issues and policies of government that may affect workers and all other mandate as specified in the law.

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He stated: “Provision of subsidy directly for food items, the 800million dollars could be a first step.

“The existing National Housing Fund (NHF) should be made accessible to genuine workers; the framework on this must be discussed and agreed.

“Medium Term: Deployment of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) across the country in line with the earlier promise made by government. The framework and timeline will be developed and agreed by both parties.

“Labour and government to design a framework that will be geared towards the reduction of cost of governance by 15% in 2024 and 30% by 2025.

“A framework should be immediately put in place to maintain the road and expand the rail networks across the country. Government must design a framework for social housing policy for workers through Rent to Own System.

“The state of electricity in the country must be appraised and an action plan should be defined with time lines on how to get this fixed. A strong monitoring team comprising of all parties will be constituted.”

Related Topics:Featured subsidy Tinubu TUC

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BREAKING: FG extends N25,000 increment to all workers

Published

23 mins ago

October 1, 2023

Trends Admin

BREAKING: FG Extends N25,000 Increment To All Workers

All cadres of workers in the Federal Civil Service will benefit from the N25,000 wage increment for six months President Bola Tinubu announced in his Independence Day broadcast.

In his speech, Tinubu had said the increment for low-grade federal workers as intervention to cushion the effect of subsidy removal.

But at a meeting between the Federal Government and Labour Unions in Aso Rock on Sunday evening, an agreement was reached that all workers should benefit from the increment.

Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to the President, who chaired the meeting, announced this at the end of the dialogue.

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The Federal Government had invited Labour Unions to the meeting as a measure to prevent nationwide strike.

Governor Abdulrazak Abdulrahman of Kwara State and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) and Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State, participated virtually in the meeting.

Also in attendance were the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong, the Minister of State, Labour, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Doris Uzoka-Anite, the Head of Service of the Federation, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan and the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.

The labour delegation was led by NLC President, Joe Ajaero, Dr Tommy Etim Okon, Deputy President, TUC, NLC General Secretary, Emma Ugboaja, TUC General Secretary, Nuhu Toro, among others.

BREAKING: FG Extends N25,000 Increment To All Workers

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Full details of FG, Labour meeting on Sunday

Published

42 mins ago

October 1, 2023

Trends Admin

Full details of FG, Labour meeting on Sunday

THE outcome of the meeting between federal government and labour leaders may avert nationwide strike if they parties to the dispute stick to it.

One of the outcome is that the federal government will commence payment of N75,000 to 15 million households at N25,000 per month, for a three-month period from October-December 2023.

Another is that the VAT on diesel will be waived for the next six months.

These are contained in a press statement by Mohammed Idris, minister of Information and National Orientation with details of the deliberation between the government and Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and Trade Union Congress, TUC, made available to Realnews on Sunday, October 1.

The full statement reads:

The Federal Government, on Sunday, October 1, 2023 met with the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Unions Congress (TUC) on measures to address the dispute arising from the removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).

The parties noted the following:

i) The Federal Government has announced N25,000 only as provisional wage increment for all treasury-paid federal government workers for six months.

ii) The Federal Government is committed to fast-tracking the provision of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses to ease public transportation difficulties associated with the removal of PMS subsidy.

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iii) The Federal Government commits to the provision of funds for micro and small-scale enterprises.

iv) VAT on diesel will be waived for the next 6 months.

v) The Federal Government will commence payment of N75,000 to 15 million households at N25,000 per month, for a three-month period from October-December 2023.

RESOLUTIONS:

In light of the discussions held during the meeting, the following resolutions were reached:

i) The issues in dispute can only be resolved when workers are at work and not when they are on strike.

ii) Labour Unions argued for higher wage award and the Federal Government Team promised to present Labour’s request to President Bola Tinubu for further consideration.

iii) A sub-committee to be constituted to work out the details of implementation of all items for consideration regarding government interventions to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal.

iv) The lingering matter of Road Transport Employees Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) and National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in Lagos State needs to be addressed urgently and Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who participated virtually, pledged to resolve the matter.

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v.) NLC and TUC will consider the offers by the Federal Government with a view to suspending the planned strike to allow for further consultations on the implementation of the resolutions above.

Governor Abdulrazak Abdulrahman of Kwara State and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) and Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State, participated virtually in the meeting, chaired by the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila.

The labour delegation was led by NLC President, Joe Ajaero, Dr Tommy Etim Okon, Deputy President, TUC, NLC General Secretary, Emma Ugboaja, TUC General Secretary, Nuhu Toro, among others.

Full details of FG, Labour meeting on Sunday

News

BREAKING : BUA group announces immediate reduction of cement price to N3,500/bag

Published

2 hours ago

October 1, 2023

Trends Admin

BREAKING : BUA group announces immediate reduction of cement price to N3,500/bag

One of the major companies in Nigeria, BUA Group , has announced a reduction of ex-factory cement price to N3,500 per bag.

The company, which made this known in a statement on Sunday, said the reduction will take effect from 2 October, 2023.

The statement titled : ‘BUA Cement reduces ex-factory cement prices to N3,500/bag effective October 2, 2023’, reads in full : “We refer to our previous pronouncements regarding our intent to reduce cement prices upon the completion of our new lines at the end of the year, in order to spur development in the building materials and infrastructure sectors.

As per the commitment made to reduce prices and following a periodic review of our operations for efficiency, the management of BUA Cement Plc wishes to announce and inform our esteemed customers, stakeholders, and the public that effective October 2, 2023, we have decided to bring the price reduction forward. As a result, BUA Cement would now be sold at an ex-factory* price of 3,500 Naira per bag so that Nigerians can begin to enjoy the benefits of the price reduction before the completion of our plants.

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Upon completion of the ongoing construction of our new plants, which would increase our production volumes to 17million metric tonnes per annum, BUA Cement PLC intends to review these prices further in line with our earlier pronouncements by the first quarter of 2024.

NOTE: all pending, undelivered orders which had been paid for at the old prices will be reviewed downwards to N3500/bag in line with the new pricing from October 2, 2023. Our licensed dealers are also enjoined to ensure that end-users benefit from this reduction in ex-factory prices as we will monitor field sales to ensure compliance.”