- Organized Labour Shifts Ground From N615,000 to N497,000
By Abiola Olawale
The Organised Labour comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) has reportedly rejected the Federal Government’s third offer for the new minimum wage.
According to reports filtering in, FG on Wednesday resumed talks with the organised wage, putting a fresh wage proposal of N57,000 on the negotiation table.
However, an insider source privy to the matter said the Organised Labour immediately rejected the offer.
It would be recalled that the government had proposed ₦54,000 on Tuesday when the committee resumed negotiations. The government had also initially proposed ₦48,000 last week, which was also rejected by the Organised Labour.
According to the source, the government reportedly cited a paucity of funds as the reason it proposed N57,000.
The source said: “Initially, the government refused to shift grounds on the N54,000 it proposed earlier, noting that it didn’t have enough funds to pay. However, we took a 30-minute break to make further deliberations.
“We as Labour reject the proposed N57,000 and the meeting has been adjourned till Tuesday next week.
Following the stance of the government, the source also said that the Organised Labour saw reasons to drop their demand from the initial ₦615,000 minimum wage to ₦497,000.
The deliberations of the tripartite committee on the new minimum wage were said to have reportedly reached a stalemate, leading to an adjournment of proceedings. The committee will reconvene on Tuesday, May 28 to continue discussions.
The New Diplomat recalls that the committee is yet to agree on a new minimum wage just about 10 days before the May 31 deadline the labour unions gave to the government to conclude the negotiations.
