Confusion As NLC, TUC Differ on Minimum Wage Demand: “Not N250,000”

• The TUC president, Festus Osifo, disclosed on Friday that labour unions are not fixed on a particular figure for the minimum wage
• This differs from the NLC president Joe Ajaero's camp's position, as they are insisting on N250,000 as workers' salaries
• Legit.ng reports that at the moment, President Tinubu is yet to decide on the new minimum wage after offering to pay Nigerian workers N62,000

Legit.ng journalist Esther Odili has over two years of experience covering political parties and movements.

Amid the lingering discussions on a new national minimum wage for Nigerian workers, organised labour has said that it is not fixated on any figure.

The tripartite committee on minimum wage ended its deliberations last week and submitted two figures to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for consideration as the new minimum wage.

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While the government and the organised private sector proposed N62,000, the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) demanded N250,000 as the new minimum wage.

NLC, TUC differ on minimum wage demand

However, on Friday, June 14, the president of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Festus Osifo, who was a guest on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, The Morning Brief, said no figure is sacrosanct as there is always room for adjustments.

Osifo stated this after Joe Ajaero's led NLC insisted that it would reject any amount offered by Tinubu's government that is less than N250,000 as the salaries of Nigerian workers.

The acting president of the NLC, Prince Adewale Adeyanju, said to the tripartite committee:

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“Our demand still remains N250,000 only and we have not been given any compelling reasons to change this position.”

But speaking on Friday, Osifo said labour was open to adjustments and not insisting on any amount as minimum wage, PM News reported.

“What we said is that for us when we give figures, there is always a room to meander, there is always a room for us to do some adjustment here and there,” Osifo said.

“So, there is no figure that is sacrosanct, there is no figure that is cast in stone that both parties will be fixated on it. One of the reasons that we went on industrial action the last time was because when it got to N60,000, they told us that a kobo cannot even join the N60,000, that they cannot even add one naira to it.

“So that was one of the reasons that led to that industrial action beyond the fact that there were also delays.”

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Minimum wage: FG sends message to labour

Legit.ng earlier reported that the federal government urged labour unions to be realistic in their demand for a new minimum wage for workers.

FG noted that the relief Nigerians are expecting will not come only in the form of an increase in wages but from other packages lined up by the government.

The minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, disclosed this to journalists at the opening of the 2024 Synod of the Charismatic Bishops Conference of Nigeria in Abuja on Wednesday.

Proofreading by Nkem Ikeke, journalist and copy editor at Legit.ng.

Source: Legit.ng