THE Tripartite Committee meeting regarding the new minimum wage is set to reconvene tomorrow May 31, 2024.
The Federal Government has extended an invitation to Organised Labour to resume negotiations.
The letter, signed by the Committee Secretary Ekpo Nta, was sent to the Presidents of the two labor centers, namely the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
The upcoming meeting will mark the seventh in a series of meetings as committee members strive to reach an agreement on the new minimum wage.
The previous meeting held on Tuesday ended inconclusively, with Organised Labour rejecting the ₦60,000 proposal put forth by the Federal Government.
In response to the impasse, labor representatives in the committee adjusted their demands downward from the initial request of ₦497,000 to ₦494,000.
The labor unions and the Federal Government have been engaged in prolonged negotiations over the new minimum wage for several months, with Labor setting a deadline of May 31st for resolution.
Initially asking for a ₦615,000 minimum wage, the labor unions subsequently lowered their demand to ₦494,000 after the government and Organised Private Sector’s initial proposals of ₦48,000 and ₦54,000 were rejected by the labor unions.
During the Tuesday committee meeting on the minimum wage, Labor stood firm in its rejection of the Federal Government’s latest offer of ₦60,000.
TUC leader Festus Osifo cited the country’s high inflation rate of 33.69% as of April 2024 and emphasized that the proposed wage did not align with economic realities, urging the government to present a detailed breakdown of how a family could sustain itself on ₦60,000.
Labor leaders expressed dissatisfaction with the current economic conditions and the inadequacy of the current ₦30,000 minimum wage to support the average Nigerian worker.
They highlighted discrepancies in wage payment among governors and pressed for the review of the Minimum Wage Act of 2019, which expired in April 2024.
NLC President Joe Ajaero criticized the government’s proposals as insufficient, emphasizing the need for a wage level that truly supports workers and their families amidst economic challenges.
