As pressure mounts for a new national minimum wage, the Oyo State Chapter of Socialist Labour has challenged the Organised Private Sector (OPS) to stop treating workers’ pay as the problem while sidestepping the real cost-of-living crisis.
The group was reacting to the OPS opposition to the demand by the Federal Workers Forum for a ₦300,000 minimum wage.
In a statement, Socialist Labour said employers must stop hiding behind macroeconomic data and confront what it called the “brutal microeconomic reality” facing Nigerian workers.
“The central question is simple: where is the purchasing power of Nigerian workers?” the group asked.
The labour body argued that businesses routinely pass every cost increase to consumers but push back when workers ask for higher pay.
According to Socialist Labour, the statement partly read: “When the naira was devalued, did the Organised Private Sector reduce the prices of its commodities to preserve workers’ purchasing power?
“When the price of petrol was dramatically increased, did manufacturers and businesses retain the old prices of their products in solidarity with workers?
“When electricity tariffs and transportation costs increased, did businesses absorb these additional costs instead of transferring them to consumers?”
The group said focusing only on the jump from ₦30,000 to ₦70,000 misses the bigger picture.
“Therefore, simply looking at the nominal increase from ₦30,000 to ₦70,000 without considering the dramatic collapse in purchasing power is economically misleading.
“Workers are not asking for luxury. They are demanding survival,” it said.
Socialist Labour accused the OPS of targeting wages while ignoring other structural issues, including excessive profits, market concentration, import dependence, currency devaluation, high energy costs, government waste, corruption and debt.
“Socialist Labour rejects the attempt to make workers the shock absorbers of government policies and capitalist economic failures,” the statement added.
The group listed soaring costs of food, transport, housing, healthcare and education as evidence that the current wage cannot sustain an average worker and their family.
The debate over a new minimum wage has intensified in recent weeks, with labour unions arguing that any new figure must reflect current inflation, while employers warn of job losses and business closures.
