The minimum wage tripartite committee, comprising the federal government, labour unions, and the private sector, has yet to receive the federal government’s proposed minimum wage template, just a day after labour unions suspended a planned strike to continue the negotiations.
Both the Trade Union Congress (TUC) President, Festus Osifo, and the Minister of State for Labour, Nkeiru Onyejeocha, confirmed this to AIT.live at the end of another inconclusive minimum wage tripartite meeting.
While labour leaders disclosed that the government has not presented any amount higher than ₦60,000 as the new minimum wage, the government maintained that it is working on a template that will be acceptable to both organised labour and the organised private sector.
Regarding the complaints that some state governments are frustrating the process of agreeing on a new minimum wage, as they are yet to implement the current ₦30,000 minimum wage, the Minister of Labour provided some explanation. The June 5th minimum wage tripartite committee meeting was attended by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, the Kwara State Governor, Abdulrazak Abdularaham, and the Head of the Federal Civil Service, Folasade Yemi-Esan.
The negotiations between the federal government and labour unions continue, with both sides still seemingly far apart on the new minimum wage figure.