BREAKING: NLC Takes Action As Tinubu’s Govt Reportedly Offers N60,000 As New Minimum Wage
- President Bola Tinubu's government earlier disclosed it could not pay Nigerian workers N615,000 as wage, noting it currently has a bloated workforce
- In a new development, the federal government has reportedly offered to pay workers N60,000 as minimum wage as opposed to its earlier offer of N57,000
- This was, however, not well received by Joe Ajaero's led NLC and its counterpart, TUC, as they rejected Tinubu's latest offer and reduced their demand to N494,000
Legit.ng journalist Esther Odili has over two years of experience covering political parties and movements.
On Tuesday, May 28, the organised labour rejected a fresh minimum wage proposal by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's led federal government.
Source: Facebook
The leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) rejected the federal government's offer to pay N60,000 as the new minimum wage.
The organised labour also shifted grounds from its N497,000 stance to N494,000, Channels TV reported.
A prominent member of the tripartite committee for the negotiation of a new minimum wage for Nigerian workers disclosed that the federal government and the organised private sector side of the talks proposed a N60,000 monthly minimum wage as against the N57,000 they proposed last week when the committee last met.
NLC insists N60,000 ‘unsubstantial’
The labour unions said the current minimum wage of N30,000 can no longer cater for the wellbeing of an average Nigerian worker, lamenting that not all governors are paying the current wage award which expired in April 2024, five years after the Minimum Wage Act of 2019 was signed by former President Muhammadu Buhari.
NLC president, Joe Ajaero, had described as “unsubstantial”, the fresh proposals by the government.
“It is still not substantial compared to what we need to make a family moving.”
“The economy of the workers is totally destroyed. In fact, the workers don’t have any economy. I think there are two economies in the country; the economy of the bourgeoisie and the economy of the workers. I think we have to harmonise this so that we can have a meeting point,” Ajaero said.
Presidency says labour’s N497,000 demand unrealistic
Legit.ng on Monday, May 27 reported that the federal government expressed unreadiness to approve the N497,000 minimum wage demanded by organised labour, describing it as unrealistic.
Speaking on the development, the special adviser to the president on information and strategy, Bayo Onanuga, noted that the governments both at the federal and state have a bloated workforce.
Recall that the organised labour (NLC and the TUC) had made a demand of N615,000 minimum wage but later reduced the demand to N500,000 and then N497,000, while the government and the private sector in the last tripartite meeting increased their offer to N57,000.
Proofreading by Nkem Ikeke, journalist and copy editor at Legit.ng.
PAY ATTENTION: Donate to Legit Charity on Patreon. Your support matters!
Source: Legit.ng
