By ADEYEMI ADELEYE

The Labour Party (LP) has appealed to the Federal Government to expedite actions to address the request of Nigerian workers within the seven-day window for renegotiation on new minimum wage.

The Lagos State Publicity Secretary of the party, Mrs Olubunmi Odesanya, made this plea in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos.

Odesanya said: “Basically, the request of the workers should be addressed.

“We are not saying the Federal Government should pay N494,000 as minimum wage, but they should seriously look at their request.

“Both Government and the Labour Union should come to a midpoint to reflect today’s realities.

“Nigerian workers deserve more than they are getting currently because of the country’s inflation rate, which is over 33.3 per cent.”

According to her, the cost of living for workers and Nigerians generally has increased so much that many are struggling to survive under the current economic crisis.

She said that government across levels must do more in reducing the cost of governance to get more funds to alleviate the suffering of the people.

“A paltry minimum wage of N30,000 for Nigerian workers, or should we say the N60,000 being proposed is far far too low to survive in this country.

“A bag of rice is about N80,000 now. Nigerians cannot even touch pepper and tomatoes now,” she said.

Odesanya urged Nigeria’s elected and appointed leaders to do more in sacrificing for masses.

The impasse between the organised labour and the Federal Government on the new minimum wage for workers led to the strike declared by labour unions on Monday, which grounded the nation’s economy.

However, with the Federal Government’s expression of commitment to raising the proposed minimum wage of N60,000 at a meeting with labour leaders on Monday evening, the organised labour on Tuesday afternoon announced suspension of the industrial action for a week.

Recalled that the government and the Organised Private Sector had initially proposed N48,000, then N54,000 and N57,000, which were all rejected by labour.

The organised labour had also proposed N615,000 as new minimum wage, but later reduced it to N497,000 and then to N494,000, to reflect the current rising cost of living. (NAN)

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