The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has urged the Federal Government to improve the salaries of its workers without waiting for another review of the national minimum wage.
The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has urged the Federal Government to improve the salaries of its workers without waiting for another review of the national minimum wage.
The TUC President, Festus Osifo, said the government has the power to increase the earnings of federal workers or raise the pay of the lowest-paid employees without introducing a new Minimum Wage Act.
Osifo made the position known on Wednesday evening during a press briefing in Abuja after a meeting of the National Administrative Council of the labour centre.
He explained that the national minimum wage should serve as the lowest amount an employer is legally expected to pay workers and should not be treated as the highest salary that employees can receive.
“Government does not even need to wait for a new Minimum Wage Act to be signed before government will take care of its workers,” Osifo said.
He explained that the Federal Government could independently decide to raise the salary of its lowest-paid workers and adjust the pay of other employees accordingly.
“Government can wake up today and say, ‘Okay, I want to pay the least-paid worker in the Federal Government payroll ₦200,000,’ for example. They could say, ‘Let the least-paid worker be ₦400,000,’ for example, and graduate it upwards,” he said.
Osifo added that such an action would not amount to a new minimum wage because the purpose of the statutory wage is to establish the lowest amount that should be paid to workers.
“Is that only the minimum wage for government to do that? No. That is not really the function of a minimum wage,” he said.
