Minimum Wage: Again, Labour Rejects Federal Govt’s N60,000 Offer

The tripartite committee for the negotiation of a new national minimum wage is yet to reach an agreement on a definite amount of wages for Nigerian workers.

The federal government at the meeting yesterday shifted ground from the previous N57,000 to a new proposal of N60,000 as minimum wage, a figure the organised labour again rejected. However, its negotiators reduced their demand from N497,000 last week to N494,000.

The deadlocked negotiations are coming barely three days to the expiration of the ultimatum given to the federal government by the organised labour to come up with an acceptable living wage for workers.

At a briefing earlier in the month, both the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC ) and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC ) threatened that they would no longer guarantee industrial harmony in the country if the federal government failed to reach agreement with them on a living wage that reflects current economic realities by  May 31, 2024.

At the first instance, the federal government offered N48,000 which the organised labour described as an insult to the sensibilities of Nigerian workers, and a significant shortfall from their needs and aspirations. At this point both NLC and TUC insisted on N615,000 which, according to them, would be enough  to cater for at least a family of six.

Last week, the federal government shifted ground from the earlier offer of N48,000 to N57,000, with the labour union reducing  its benchmark figure to N497,000.

Yesterday’s negotiations showed that the federal government added N3,000 to its last proposed wage offer to raise it to N60,000, while labour leaders on the other hand reduced their demand by N3,000 to N494,000.