Punch Editorial Board
A two-week ultimatum by labour unions to the Federal Government to announce a new minimum wage refocused attention on workers’ pay and the precarious financial position of public and private sector employers. The threat of industrial strike if the government failed to bend sent Presidency officials scrambling to figure out how to fund the inevitable wage increases. At this time, however, increases in public and private sector wage bills could have far-reaching repercussions on the fragile economy.
Boxed in by the realities of the inadequacy of the current national minimum wage of N18,000 per month, the parlous finances of the three tiers of government, and an election season, the Federal Government will be tempted to fulfil its promise to raise public workers’ pay and set a new minimum wage. Labour, on its part, is insisting on a wage package, citing…
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