Minimum wage: Labour kicks as FEC steps down memo, demands consultation
The Organised Labour on Tuesday kicked against the Federal Executive Council’s decision to step down the memorandum on the report of the Tripartite Committee on New National Minimum Wage.
The Head of Public Relations of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Benson Upah, who criticised the failure of FEC to consider the memo during Tuesday’s FEC meeting, said stepping down the tripartite committee report “creates room for injurious speculations.”
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, told journalists after the council meeting that the FEC stepped down the memorandum on the new minimum wage to allow for more consultations between President Bola Tinubu, state governors, local government authorities and the private sector.
Idris said the council deferred acting on the memo given that the Federal Government is not the sole stakeholder on the national minimum wage issue.
The Federal Government, Organised Private Sector and Labour had held several meetings on the new minimum wage with the NLC and Trade Union Congress leaders insisting on N250,000.
On the other hand, the Federal Government, states and the OPS made a counter-offer of N62,000.
However, the state governors argued that they would not sustain any minimum wage higher than N60,000.
The Assistant General Secretary of the NLC, Chris Onyeka, said Labour would not accept the latest offer of N62,000 and the N100,000 proposal made by some individuals and economists.
The NLC President, Joe Ajaero, said the unionists were waiting on the President to consider Labour’s proposal.
But speaking at the opening of the 2024 Synod of the Charismatic Bishops Conference of Nigeria in Abuja, the information minister emphasised the imperative of a realistic wage system that could safeguard against mass retrenchment while addressing workers’ needs.
