By Ken Afor
Organised labour took a decisive stance during the Tripartite Committee meeting on the Minimum Wage on Tuesday, May 28, opting to walk out in rejection of the Federal Government’s proposed increase to N60,000.
According to reports, the union adjusted its position from its initial demand of N497,000 to N494,000.
The New Diplomat reports that last week, the government had proposed ₦48,000 and ₦54,000, both of which Labour rejected.
However, today’s meeting ended in a deadlock, with no agreement reached on the new minimum wage.
As the deadline set by the labour unions approaches on May 31, 2024, the Tripartite Committee, responsible for negotiating a new minimum wage for federal government workers, has failed to reach a consensus.
Meanwhile, in response to the government’s fresh proposal of N60,000, President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Joe Ajaero, described it as “insubstantial.”
He said: “It is still not substantial compared to what we need to make a family move forward,” referring to the current ₦30,000 wage paid to workers in the country, which the unions jacked up to N615,000 in the initial demand.
“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.”
It would be recalled that in April, the federal government approved an increase in salaries across various salary structures in a move aimed at boosting the welfare of its workers.
The increase, ranging between 25% and 35%, will apply to personnel on the six remaining Consolidated Salary Structures.
These salary structures include the Consolidated Public Service Salary Structure (CONPSS); Consolidated Research and Allied Institutions Salary Structure (CONRAISS); Consolidated Police Salary Structure (CONPOSS); Consolidated Para-military Salary Structure (CONPASS); Consolidated Intelligence Community Salary Structure (CONICCS); and Consolidated Armed Forces Salary Structure (CONAFSS).
However, the 35% increase was rejected by the labour unions, describing it as mischievous.
