By Abiola Olawale
Indications have emerged, suggesting that organised labour may consider revising its request for a minimum wage of N494,000 to a lower figure, potentially around N100,000.
It was gathered that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) have reportedly settled to table N100,000 as minimum wage before the Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage.
According to informed sources, the union leaders have chosen to withdraw their request for N494,000, in light of the controversy and criticism surrounding the demand.
Although the sources indicated that the union leaders have not yet officially communicated their new demand to the Federal Government, “they have collectively agreed privately to propose N100,000 as the revised minimum wage.”
Speaking with newsmen on Tuesday, June 4, Festus Osifo, president of the Trade Union Congress, emphasised that “labour is unwilling to accept marginal increases of a few thousand naira” on the previously agreed N60,000 benchmark with the federal government.
The TUC boss said: “No, we also told them that it’s not that we’d get to the table and you start adding N1,000, N2,000, N3,000 as you were doing, and we got some good guarantees here and there that they would do something good.”
Osifo added that labour was not fixated on N494,000 as the new minimum wage for workers in the country, but the tripartite committee “must show seriousness and offer workers something economically realistic in tandem with current inflationary pressures.”
The New Diplomat reports that the nationwide strike of organised labour was relaxed after Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Sen. George Akume, announced that President Bola Tinubu was committed to a national minimum wage above ₦60,000.
Additionally, the President had directed the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, to present a template for the new minimum wage by Wednesday, June 5.
