The Nigerian Labour Congress will on Friday meet over the N70,000 minimum wage proposed by President Bola Tinubu.
The Head of Information, NLC, Benson Ukpa, said this during an interview on ARISE TV monitored by NewsNGR.
He said that the major organs of the NLC and the Trade Union Congress will meet to consider the proposal of the president after which a statement would be made on the decision of organised labour
Ukpa said, “We are not excited about the N70,000 minimum wage proposal by Mr President. Labour has not signed any agreement accepting what was offered. A meeting will hold today and at the end, a formal statement about our position will be offered.”
NewsNGR had reported that after months of negotiations and rejected proposals, the Federal Government, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have finally reached an agreement on a new national minimum wage.
Initially, the labour unions demanded N494,000 monthly wage, citing the rising cost of living and economic hardships faced by workers.
The proposal was, however, deemed unsustainable by the Federal Government, which argued it could destabilise the economy and jeopardise the welfare of over 200 million Nigerians.
Negotiations went on, with the government offering N62,000, which was promptly rejected by the labour unions. The deadlock persisted until President Tinubu intervened by hosting two meetings with labour leaders within a week.
After the last meeting on Thursday, the presidency announced N70,000 as the new minimum wage agreed upon by the government, NLC and TUC, along with additional incentives.
The President’s Special Adviser on Media and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said Tinubu also promised to find ways to assist the private sector and sub-national governments in implementing the new wage structure.
He said the president further committed to using his discretionary powers to address the demands of university unions for unpaid salaries over four months.
The labour leaders, led by NLC President Comrade Joe Ajaero and TUC President Comrade Festus Usifo, accepted the offer, citing the additional incentives as a key factor in their decision.
Notably, the agreement includes a provision for the N70,000 wage to be reviewed every three years to ensure it remains responsive to economic changes.
“The amount of N70,000 happens to be where we are now. But the good thing about it is that it will not wait for another five years to come for review.
“Rather than settling on a figure that we wait for five years, we’ll have to now negotiate even two times within five years, with a view to going up.
“That is one of the reasons we decided to reach where we are today. Because of the proviso that we can review in the next three years,” said Ajaero.