Organised Labour, comprising the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), has asked the federal government to announce a new minimum wage on Workers’ Day, May 1, 2024.

The National Vice President of the TUC, Tommy Etim, stated this on Sunday in an interview.

According to Etim, the announcement of the new minimum wage is one of labour’s expectations ahead of the 2024 Workers’ Day.

Speaking with the Punch, Etim said there were lots of expectations particularly since some of the newly initiated policies of government had continued to push more Nigerians into poverty.

Etim said workers in the country were expectant of the new minimum wage, stating that Workers’ Day is like Christmas Day for workers.

He said, “The Workers’ Day is a type of Christmas Day to Nigerian workers and there are lots of expectations. The welfare of workers is paramount and should be taken into consideration. It is also expected that lots of incentives will be rolled out to cushion the effects of the policies initiated by the government which have continued to limit the purchasing power of workers and Nigerians as a whole.

“Presently, the purchasing power is weak in the country. It is also expected that a new minimum wage will be announced on that day. Workers are looking forward to that. Also, we expect that the government finally use the opportunity to launch the CNG buses which it promised over a year ago. These are our expectations.”

Recall that organised labour had demanded N615,000 as the new minimum wage for workers in the country.

An impeccable source, who is an executive of organised labour, who did not want to be named because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, told Sunday PUNCH that the new wage of N615,000 monthly was reached after consultations by the NLC and TUC.

The source said the wage might still increase, following the recent hike in electricity tariff.