The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has condemned what it described as the Federal Government’s nonchalant attitude over deliberations about a new minimum wage, threatening to strike if the issue is not resolved.
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“The government must be very serious in addressing the issue of a new minimum wage,” the president of the TUC Festus Osifo said on Tuesday’s edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today.
For months, labour unions and the Federal Government have been locked in negotiations over a new minimum wage with the former giving an ultimatum of May 31st.
Labour had initially demanded a ₦615,000 minimum wage but reduced it twice – now at ₦494,000. The government and the organised private sector had initially proposed ₦48,000 and ₦54,000 which were also rejected by the labour.
Since its inception, President Bola Tinubu has introduced a slew of reforms including the removal of fuel subsidies and the floating of the naira.
But Osifo has accused the Tinubu government of policy somersaults and not having “deep thinking”.
“So, for us, we would rate them 2.5 out of 10 which is 25%,” the TUC chief argued.
This is as the Organised Labour comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), rejected the offer of the Federal Government to pay ₦60,000 as the new minimum wage for workers.
The Organised Labour also shifted ground from its ₦497,000 stance last week to ₦494,000.
A prominent member of the Tripartite Committee for the negotiation of a new minimum wage for Nigerian workers told reporters that the Federal Government and the Organised Private Sector (OPS) side of the talks proposed a ₦60,000 monthly minimum wage on Tuesday, as against the ₦57,000 they proposed last week when the committee last met.
The government and the OPS had initially proposed ₦48,000 and ₦54,000 last week, which were also rejected by the organised labour.
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