President Bola Tinubu has said that a new minimum wage bill will be sent to the National Assembly for approval as the law for the next five years in Nigeria very soon.
The president made this disclosure in his democracy day speech on Wednesday at the State House in Abuja.
The president said the new bill is based upon the agreed amount between the government and organized labour during negotiations.
He said the government decided to choose a path of conversation rather than conflict despite labour’s embarking on nationwide strike.
“We have negotiated in good faith and with open arms with organized labour on a new national minimum wage. We shall soon send an executive bill to the National Assembly to enshrine what has been agreed upon as part of our law for the next five years or less.
“In the face of labour’s call for a national strike, we did not seek to oppress or crack down on the workers as a dictatorial government would have done. We chose the path of cooperation over conflict.
“No one was arrested or threatened. Instead, the labour leadership was invited to break bread and negotiate toward a good-faith resolution,” Tinubu said.
Backstory
The National Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) declared an indefinite strike over new minimum wage, virtually shutting down all economic activities in the country.
The organized labour decided to embark on industrial action after the negotiations between them and the government over the minimum wage of workers came to an impasse.
NLC and TUC initially proposed a new wage of N615,000 to the federal government. However, after many negotiations and deliberations, the union settled for the sum of N250,000.
On its part, however, the government insisted on paying the sum of N62,000, adding that the proposed amount from the labour union is unsustainable.
FG offers to pay 62,000
Meanwhile, after meeting with the leadership of NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), the federal government signed a resolution, agreeing to pay N62,000 minimum wage.
The agreement which was signed by the federal government and the labour union.
The resolution was signed by Mohammed Idris, Minister of Information and National Orientation, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Joe Ajaero, President, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Festus Osifo President, Trade Union Congress (TUC).
After the meeting, the report was sent to the president which will forward it to the National Assembly for approval.