For workers across the country, the Federal Government’s N70,000 transport allowance is not enough, and not for the reason many expect.
From the workers’ side, the problem is not the amount. It is the fact that it will disappear after six months.
The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, says workers are tired of short-term palliatives that leave them back where they started.
Instead of a temporary payment, workers want the N70,000 built permanently into their monthly pay as part of transport or housing allowance.
TUC Secretary-General, Nuhu Toro, speaking on TVC News on Wednesday monitored by The HR Anchor explained why workers are pushing back.
“History has shown that no wage award in Nigeria is sustainable. As I speak to you today, there are MDAs, parastatals and government agencies that have not paid the wage award,” Toro said.
For many workers, that history is personal. Some agencies are still yet to pay the N40,000 wage award introduced in 2023. Workers say they cannot trust another temporary promise that may never fully reach them.
That is why the Congress is demanding a different approach.
“Why don’t you embed it into the component of salary? Say, for instance, N70,000 is added to either transport or housing allowance of workers,” he said.
Toro noted that adding the amount to salaries could push the effective minimum wage to around N140,000 and strengthen workers’ hands when the next minimum wage negotiation begins.
Workers are also worried about what comes after the six months end.
“What happens if between now and six months the new minimum wage does not set in? Are we going to say workers should stop earning it?” he asked.
From the workers’ perspective, the allowance also came without proper inclusion. Some public service unions say they were left out of the talks that produced it, while older agreements, including those affecting judicial workers, remain unsettled.
Toro said workers had already laid out their demands before the government announced the allowance, and talks with a delegation led by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation are still ongoing.
The position of workers remains clear:“We insist that the N70,000 should be embedded into their salary preceding negotiation of the minimum wage,” he said.
