By Omoyeni Ojeifo
Rejecting the Federal Government’s ₦70,000 monthly transport stipend, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) is demanding a lasting salary increment rather than temporary palliatives, citing the poor implementation of past relief measures.
TUC President Festus Osifo highlighted that workers lost confidence in temporary arrangements after the government defaulted on consistent payments during the 2023 wage award implementation.
“The first wage award of ₦40,000 that was paid was paid sometime in January. Then they paid in February and they stopped for over three, four, five months. They did not pay again.” Osifo said, while fielding questions in an interview on Channels TV Politics Today, monitored by PerSecondNews on Wednesday night.
He argued that the government did not need to wait for negotiations over the national minimum wage before increasing workers’ salaries, stressing that the minimum wage sets a floor rather than a ceiling for earnings.
“You don’t need to negotiate minimum wage before the government Intervenes in the plight of workers. Not at all. There are some countries in the world that minimum wage may not be negotiated for 25 years,” he noted.
The congress also considered the proposed allowance inadequate in the face of rising living costs and the transportation expenses workers must meet to get to their workplaces.
“For us, first, what is being proposed is not acceptable because it is too small. What has been offered will completely not serve the interests of the Nigerian workers.”
“What we are saying is this: as you are offering this ₦70,000, we can negotiate it upward, but you will make it to be statutory salaries and not just a temporary wage award,” he stressed.
The TUC president maintained that the union was prepared to negotiate the amount but wanted the government to make the improvement permanent by incorporating it into workers’ regular salaries.
“The ₦300,000 that we put there at the corner of you should check that letter very well or that press release. We know, for example, so we are not saying that that amount is cast in stone,” he stated.
Osifo also drew attention to the plight of pensioners, arguing that the government’s response to economic hardship should extend beyond serving workers to include retirees struggling to meet basic expenses.
“The pensioners today they are suffering, and some pensioners today earn as low as 20,000 naira. What can 20,000 naira do for a 70 years old man? Maybe that man has four children, and his children doesn’t even have any means of survival,” he lamented.
According to him, the congress is expected to meet with government representatives on Thursday, October 29, as discussions over workers’ welfare continue.
PerSecondNews recalls that the Federal Government had approved a ₦70,000 monthly transport allowance for workers across all levels for six months, beginning in November 2026, following a meeting with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Tuesday, October 27.
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