The Tripartite National Minimum Wage Committee, comprising representatives of the federal government, state governments, private sector, and organised labour, will begin deliberations today on the new minimum wage for Nigerian workers.
The committee, which was inaugurated by President Bola Tinubu on January 30, 2024, is expected to submit its recommendations to the National Assembly as an executive bill before the expiration of the current N30,000 minimum wage in March 2024.
The commencement of the negotiations came amid a strike notice issued by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) over the alleged poor implementation of the fuel subsidy removal palliatives, including the payment of N35,000 wage award.
The federal government, however, pleaded with the labour unions to withdraw the strike warning and promised to resume the payment of the wage award last week.
NLC, which confirmed that the talks will begin today, hinted that the labour centre may ask for a new wage higher than the earlier N1 million it proposed.
NLC head of information and public affairs, Comrade Benson Upah, told LEADERSHIP in a chat that even though the congress earlier proposed a N1 million, it may shift ground higher if the current socio-economic situation deteriorates further.
Upah said that the N1 million proposal remains a conditional statement that circumstances may change.
“We said in our address to the press that if the socio-economic situation deteriorates further that the N1 million may be unrealistic. It was a conditional statement,” he said.
Last week, the secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, said the federal government was pushing for a fair, sustainable and beneficial minimum wage for all stakeholders.
Already, NLC has kicked against the composition of the committee, alleging that some members were not representing the interests of the workers.
They vowed to resist any attempt to impose a minimum wage that would further impoverish the workers and the masses.
