The Organised Labour remains steadfast in its stance on the ideal minimum wage for Nigerian workers, TheHILL observes.
President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Festus Osifo, insisted yesterday (Tuesday) that the ₦250,000 benchmark remains the ideal minimum wage for workers in Nigeria
Osifo further mentioned that the TUC and the Nigeria Labour Congress were in discussions with Federal Government officials to finalize an agreement on the minimum wage.
He revealed this during the maiden Annual Convention of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Women Commission in Abuja, themed ‘The Dynamic Woman: Navigating Challenges in a Constantly Evolving World.’
Discussions on a new national minimum wage have paused following the decision of President Bola Tinubu to consult with stakeholders before sending the bill to the National Assembly.
The Federal Government and Organised Private Sector have agreed on ₦62,000 as the new minimum wage, but labour is insisting on ₦N250, 000.
Speaking at the event, Osifo clarified that negotiations on the new minimum wage have not been abandoned; instead, labour and the government are in the process of fine-tuning the details.
“The minimum wage negotiations cannot be dead. The 2019 minimum wage (that has expired) took about two years to see the light of day. We started the negotiations in 2017.
“We promised you when we started in January (this year) that we will ensure this one is fast – tracked for us not to be in the conundrum that we were in 2019 which took two years,” the TUC president stated.
He emphasized that the minimum wage issue is being actively addressed, noting that the President seeks further consultations before submitting the proposal to the National Assembly.
“So where we are today, we submitted the divergent position in June, when we did that you know clearly that Mr President came out to say that he wanted to consult across board which is the governors, Local Government chairmen, organised private sector and labour, so we are doing some level of reach-out and conversations.
“So that what will be submitted to the National Assembly will actually be a minimum wage that will cater for the poorest of the poor, so for the fact that in the media we are not shouting, we are doing some level of internal work so that this bill will be submitted in earnest soon. We still insist on the N250,000 benchmark as ideal minimum wage,” Osifo stated.
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