All the parties involved in the negotiation of a new minimum wage for Nigerian workers have made fresh proposals following their inability to reach a compromised. The Federal Government, Organised Labour, State Governments and Organised Private Sector are involved.....Read The Full Story Here ▶
The Federal Government said it has offered organised labour, represented by the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress, N62,000 as the new national minimum wage for workers in the country.
Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State revealed this while addressing journalists at the end of the meeting of the Tripartite Committee on the negotiation on Friday in Abuja.
Uzodimma, who is also the Chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum, said: “We are almost there because we are just about to sign the dot and there will be a complete closure.
“Every other thing will follow.
“The committee has worked so hard and the committee has reached an agreement.
“The tripartite committee is made up of three parties: the Government, the Organised Private Sector and the Organised Labour.
“In the wisdom of the committee, it has put together a recommendation that will be forwarded to Mr. President for further action
“The organised private sector and the Federal Government have agreed on N62,000, while the organised labour is asking for N250,000.
“At the end of the day, what is important is that we are talking.
“There is no hostility anymore.
“And the national anxiety is going to be relaxed as soon as this is made public.”
Festus Osifo, the President of TUC, noted that the OPS and Federal Government have recommended N62,000 as the minimum wage.
Osifo added: “But for us, we felt that with the current economic hardship and the difficulty in the land, the sum of N250,000 should be what will be okay for the minimum wage.
“We are going to sign a report and forward this position to Mr. President.
“This committee is to make recommendation to him.
“So we will forward it to him and Mr. President will forward it to the National Assembly.
“We will keep pushing to ensure that we have a wage that stands the test of time in Nigeria.”
Speaking, Goni Aji, Chairman of the Tripartite Committee on the National Minimum Wage, said the recommendation that they had was as a result of a deep dialogue and consensus reached at the tripartite level.
According yo Aji: “The situation that we are recommending to Mr. President, some how, is repeating itself because it happened in the 2018 exercise.
“In 2018, it was the other way.
“The organised private sector and the organised labour recommended N30,000 as minimum wage, while the government side recommended N24,000.
“Two figures were recommended to the then President for his consideration and onward transmission to the National Assembly for it to become a law.
“That is exactly where we are.”
Aji added that the mandate of the tripartite committee is to recommend, saying it has no powers to approve.
The State Governors, operating on the platform of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, have recommended N57,000 minimum wage.
They, however, said that each state should be allowed to negotiate with its workers on what they could afford to pay.