Labour May Resume Strike as Top Official Speaks on Imminent Meeting over Minimum Wage
- Tommy Okon Etim, the deputy president of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), has said due process would be followed in the agitation for a new national minimum wage in Nigeria
- Etim, in an interview, disclosed that "labour will be meeting" soon to discuss the FG’s latest wage proposition of N62,000
- Legit.ng reports that Etim clarified that the organised labour in Africa's most populous nation is not fixated with figures but value
Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over 9 years of experience covering governance and public journalism.
FCT, Abuja - While the Bola Tinubu-led government and the organised private sector (OPS) have agreed on N62,000 as the new national minimum wage, the organised labour has rejected the offer, insisting on N250,000.
As reported by Leadership newspaper, the disagreement is likely to force the umbrella bodies of the civil servants in the country – the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) – to reactivate their relaxed indefinite strike action earlier embarked upon by their members.
Source: Twitter
Minimum wage: NLC/TUC fumes at Nigerian governors
The five-day suspension of the industrial action ends today, Sunday, June 9.
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It would be recalled that the 36 state governors, on the platform of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), said on Friday, June 7, that the N60,000/N62,000 minimum wage proposal was not sustainable and could not fly.
Reacting, the organised labour faulted the NGF’s position, saying every part of the new minimum wage agreement should be implemented and any of the state governors who cannot pay it should resign.
Speaking with The Punch in an interview published on Sunday, June 9, Tommy Etim, the deputy national president of the TUC, described the NGF's statement as a recipe for industrial unrest.
Etim said:
“In this same country, the governors said that N30,000 was too much for governors to pay but it is in the same country that a governor emerged with over N80bn. What an irony!
"We cannot jump processes. We will also look at it together. Labour will be meeting.
"We are giving Mr President the benefit of the doubt to walk the talk. The end will justify the means.”
More to read on minimum wage
- Finance minister submits cost implications of minimum wage to Tinubu Thursday
- New minimum wage: Why latest negotiations between FG, organised labour stalled
- FG provides fresh update on minimum wage negotiations, addresses key concerns
NLC/TUC’s fresh proposal surfaces
Legit.ng earlier reported that the president of the TUC, Festus Osifo, insisted that N250,000 as the minimum wage aligns with current hardships.
The organised labour said the demands of the NLC and TUC were clear and just, adding that it remained committed to advocating for the rights and welfare of all Nigerian workers and will not succumb to any form of intimidation.
Bukar Goni Aji, a former head of the civil service of the federation and incumbent chairperson of the tripartite committee on national new minimum wage, stated that the N62,000 and N250,000 recommendations would be sent to President Tinubu for action.
Proofread by Kola Muhammed, journalist and copyeditor at Legit.ng
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Source: Legit.ng
