“Get Serious”: NLC Rejects FG’s N100,000 New Minimum Wage Offer, Gives Reason
- Organised labour is furious over the federal government's offer of N48,000 as the new minimum wage for Nigerian workers
- The NLC and the TUC have maintained that they will also not accept N100,000 offer from the government as minimum wage
- Ahead of the negotiation meeting slated for Tuesday with the federal government, organised labour insisted that it will not shift ground on its N615,000 demand from Tinubu's government
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Legit.ng journalist Esther Odili has over two years of experience covering political parties and movements.
FCT, Abuja - Ahead of Tuesday's minimum wage negotiation committee meeting, where the federal government is expected to table a new offer, organised labour has asked the government to get serious. It described the earlier proposed N48,000 wage as a huge joke.
Source: Facebook
As reported by The Guardian, the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and its counterpart, Trade Union Congress (TUC), also dismissed reports that labour was settling for N100,000 as the new offer from the government.
There are also expectations that the tripartite committee on the new national minimum wage will resume negotiations on Tuesday, May 21, and will review its earlier N48,000 proposal upward during negotiation talks with labour and other stakeholders.
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NLC insists on N615,000 as minimum wage
Recall that the NLC and TUC pulled out of the negotiation meeting last Wednesday when the government offered N48,000 as new minimum wage.
The organised labour insisted that they were not shifting ground with the government regarding its proposal of N615,000 minimum wage.
However, the chairman of the tripartite committee, Alhaji Bukar Goni, indicated interest that the government would shift ground and asked organised labour also to shift ground.
As reported by Vanguard, the NLC head of information and public affairs, Benson Upah, said organised labour would honour the invitation but advised the government to be serious.
He said:
“Our expectations are that government should be serious this time around. We expect them to take more seriously the issue of wages of workers.”
Why NLC rejected N48k minimum wage
On his part, a member of the NLC delegation on the tripartite committee, Professor Theophilus Ndubuaku, said it would not be kind of the government to offer N100,000.
Speaking on why the unions rejected FG's N48,000 offer, NLC’s national treasurer, Hakeem Ambali, disclosed to the Punch that Tinubu's government had refused to engage the main issues on why the N30,000 was no longer sustainable.
“That is why Labour condemned the N48,000 suggestion. Is it meant for feeding alone?” he queried.
Governors speak on new minimum wage
Legit.ng earlier reported that the Nigeria governors' forum said they were examining their individual capacities to arrive at a sustainable new minimum wage.
The chairman of the forum and governor of Kwara state, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, disclosed in a statement on Thursday, May 2.
This came after the NLC explained why organised labour is demanding N615,000 for a new minimum wage.
Proofreading by Nkem Ikeke, journalist and copy editor at Legit.ng.
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Source: Legit.ng
