We Will Not Accept Meagre Increase To ₦60,000 As Minimum Wage – Labour

Joy ChukwuJune 4, 20241 Mins read127

The Organised Labour has firmly stated that they will not accept any slight increase to the ₦60,000 offer proposed by the tripartite committee for the new minimum wage.

Festus Osifo, President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), clarified this on Tuesday during the Politics Today programme on Channels Television.

This statement came just hours after the Organised Labour, including the TUC and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), called off their industrial action that began early Monday morning.

Osifo recounted that during a meeting on Friday, the tripartite committee indicated they would not increase the ₦60,000 offer. However, in another meeting on Monday, the President committed to exceeding the ₦60,000 figure.

When questioned if Labour would consider a slight increase to the committee’s last offer, which involves the Federal Government, states, and the Organised Private Sector, Osifo firmly responded, saying,

No. We also told them that it’s not that we’d get to the table and you start adding ₦1, ₦2, ₦3,000 as you were doing, and we got some good guarantees here and there that they would do something good.

Osifo emphasised that while Labour is not strictly demanding a new minimum wage of ₦494,000, the tripartite committee must present a serious and economically viable offer that reflects current inflation rates.

However, he did not specify an exact amount but insisted that the new wage match the purchasing power of ₦30,000 in 2019 and ₦18,000 in 2014.

Osifo also criticised the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, who labelled the strike as “premature” and “illegal.” Osifo argued that Labour had given a one-month notice to the government on May 1, 2024, which ended on May 31, 2024.

The TUC leader further stated that the brief strike brought attention to the workers’ demands.

This strike has made everyone aware of the issue. Over the next week, the focus will be on the tripartite committee, which was our goal, he said.

On Tuesday, the Organised Labour suspended their nationwide strike, which began at midnight on Monday, following assurances from George Akume, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, that President Bola Tinubu was committed to a minimum wage higher than ₦60,000.

The President also instructed the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, to present a new minimum wage template by Wednesday.

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