In a move that has sparked a standoff, organized labour has rejected the federal government’s proposed minimum wage of N48,000 for public sector workers. The government’s position was presented to labour representatives at the resumed tripartite committee meeting on Wednesday.
In protest, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) walked out of the virtual meeting. A labour leader who attended the meeting stated that the government was not serious about providing workers with a living wage.
“What the government has presented to us is wage reduction. This government is not serious about giving workers a living wage,” the labour leader said.
The development comes after President Bola Tinubu had, on May Day, promised workers a living wage, assuring them that their days of waiting for such were over.
The NLC and TUC had proposed a minimum wage of N615,000, citing the high cost of living as the basis for their proposal. Meanwhile, the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), which had earlier declared that the least worker in the private sector was paid N78,000, presented N54,000 as the new minimum wage during the Wednesday meeting.
As of the time of filing this report, the NLC and TUC have called for an emergency press briefing to present the federal government’s proposal at the meeting and outline their next course of action.
It’s worth noting that President Tinubu had, on January 30, inaugurated a 37-member tripartite committee to come up with a new minimum wage, underscoring the ongoing negotiations between the government, employers, and labour unions.