The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), has stated that it will insist on a minimum wage of N250,000 during a meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the State House in Abuja on Thursday (today).
The NLC’s Head of Public Affairs, Benson Upah, stated that Labour will insist on its N250,000 proposal during the meeting with the President.
“We are going to the table with our demand of N250,000, even as the cost of living has since moved up. We have been very reasonable and patriotic,” Upah told our correspondent.
Labour leaders were called to a meeting with the President as part of Tinubu’s vow to conduct additional talks with stakeholders on the minimum wage.
The anticipated meeting comes about a month after the President stated in his Democracy Day speech on June 12, 2024, that an executive measure establishing a new national minimum wage would be brought to the National Assembly for approval.
On June 25, the Federal Executive Council, chaired by the President, halted deliberation on the new minimum wage memo to allow for more stakeholder participation ahead of the proposed executive law.
The President made this decision after receiving the report of the Tripartite Committee on Minimum Wage from the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume.
The report, which Akume received from the Chairman of the Tripartite Committee, Bukar Goni Aji, suggested a minimum salary of N62,000 based on comments from the federal, state, and organised private sectors.
At the conclusion of consultations, the NLC and TUC recommended N250,000, but state governors stated that they may be unable to pay N62,000.
The labour unions said that the current N30,000 minimum salary was no longer realistic, noting current food inflation driven by the dual policy of removing petrol subsidies and unifying the FX windows.
Two days after the FEC meeting, Tinubu and Vice President Kassim Shettima met with governors and ministers at the 141st National Economic Council meeting to discuss the new worker minimum wage.
However, the outcome of their encounter was not revealed.
The minimum wage negotiations had gone on for some time, with organised labour, government representatives, and the business sector unable to strike an agreement.
In rage, the NLC and TUC called an indefinite industrial strike on June 3, hurting economic activity and government operations nationwide.
Unionists shut down airports, hospitals, banks, the national grid, the National Assembly, and state assembly buildings.
However, the industrial action was postponed after labour leaders met with top government officials, who assured them that the government was willing to enhance its offer.
In January, President Bola Tinubu formed a tripartite committee to negotiate a new minimum wage for workers ahead of the Minimum Wage Act of 2019, which expires in April 2024.
The group is made up of organised labour(NLC and TUC), representatives from the federal and state governments, and members of the OPS.
