Minimum Wage: N250,000 demand remains until end of discussions with Tinubu – Labour
Organised Labour, consisting of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), has maintained that its demand for a new minimum wage of ₦250,000 and the ₦62,000 figure submitted by the tripartite committee remain unchanged until after discussions with President Bola Tinubu.
While labour insists on ₦250,000 as the new minimum wage, the tripartite committee had proposed ₦62,000. During a meeting on Thursday with President Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, the labour leaders, led by NLC President Joe Ajaero and TUC President Festus Osifo, stated that their demands have not changed.
Ajaero said the meeting, which lasted for about an hour and was adjourned to next week, was not a negotiation but a discussion.
“In the real sense, it wasn’t a negotiation but a discussion, and we have had that discussion. We agreed to look at the real terms probably and reconvene next week. So, that’s where we are because we didn’t go down there to talk naira and kobo,” Ajaero said. “At least there were some basic issues that we agreed on.
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The status quo in terms of the amount ₦250,000 and ₦62,000 remains until we finish this conversation.”
According to Osifo, the labour delegation informed the President of the economic difficulties Nigerians are facing.
“In the meeting, we tried to put the issues on the table, issues that are bothering and biting Nigerians today. The economic difficulties and the value of the naira, how it has also eroded, and how these have affected the prices of commodities and goods in the market.”
Osifo continued, “So, we tried to put these before Mr President because he is the president of the country, and the bulk stops at his table.
We have had all the conversations with all his agents, but today we said let us meet with the father of the country and have this conversation and make the argument that labour always makes. We made all the arguments, the economic analysis, macro, micro, fiscal, and monetary issues.
So, we put everything forward, and at the end, the President made his remark as the president and we all agreed let’s go back, we internalize it, we have some conversation, and by one week’s time, we will come back and we will continue the meeting.”
Proofreading, editing by Sakinat Musa Abubakar and Maryam Sulaiman, Editor and Journalist at Neptune Prime.
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