Following a lengthy meeting on Friday, the Federal Government and the organized private sector have raised their proposal for the new minimum wage to N62,000 from the previous N60,000.
On the other hand, the organized labor is suggesting N250,000, a significant shift from their initial N494,000 proposal.
This marks the conclusion of discussions on the new minimum wage by the tripartite committee established by the Federal Government after several months.
The recommendations will be submitted to President Tinubu, who is expected to present an executive bill to the National Assembly for further action.
The responsibilities of the tripartite committee, formed in January this year, are now complete, shifting the focus to President Tinubu and subsequently to the National Assembly.
Although all parties – labor, the organized private sector, and the Federal Government – acknowledged that the current minimum wage of N30,000 is no longer sustainable given the country’s economic situation, reaching a consensus on the new minimum wage had been a challenge.
While the government and the organized private sector deemed labor’s proposed N494,000 as excessive, labor believed that the N60,000 offer was inadequate.
Following the expiration of the labor’s ultimatum on May 31, a nationwide strike was initiated on June 3, leading to the closure of businesses across the country.
However, the strike was called off on Tuesday after the Federal Government pledged to increase the minimum wage beyond N60,000, leading to the resumption of negotiations.
The suspension of the strike allowed for the continuation of negotiations, which persisted until late into the night.
We will not accept a paltry increase to N60,000. With the government and the organized private sector only proposing to add N2,000 to the previously rejected N60,000, it remains to be seen if the new offer will be approved after workers had earlier vowed not to accept any small increase from the government.
The President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Festus Osifo, made this statement on Channels Television’s Politics Today program on Tuesday, following the suspension of the industrial action by Organized Labour, which includes the TUC and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
“At the meeting on Friday, they (the tripartite committee) stated that they would not increase the ₦60,000 figure, but in yesterday’s meeting (Monday), Mr. President committed to offering more than ₦60,000,” Osifo explained.
When asked if Labour would agree to a slight increase in the last offer from the tripartite committee, the TUC leader responded, “No, we also informed them that we will not sit at the table and accept ₦1, ₦2, ₦3,000 increments as they were suggesting. We received some assurances that they would make a substantial improvement.”
We are unable to afford
On the other hand, the 36 state governors have expressed that the N60,000 minimum wage proposal by the Federal Government is not feasible and cannot be implemented.
A statement by the Acting Director, Media Affairs and Public Relations of the Forum, Mrs. Halima Ahmed, highlighted that if this proposal is implemented, many states will exhaust all their monthly allocations from the federation account to pay workers’ salaries.
The governors have appealed to mem
Following the expiration of the ultimatum issued by labour on May 31, the unions commenced a strike on June 3, causing businesses across the nation to shut down.
However, the strike was called off on Tuesday after the Federal Government assured an increase in the minimum wage beyond N60,000 as negotiations resumed.
The suspension of the strike allowed for the continuation of negotiations, which persisted until.
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