Tinubu Invites Organized Labour For Minimum Wage Talks

President Bola Tinubu has invited the organised labour consisting of the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress to a meeting at the Aso Villa on Thursday.

According to Channels report, the President is expected to make a decision on the ₦62,000 proposal of the government and private sector side; as well as the ₦250,000 demand of the Organised Labour.

The Thursday meeting is coming about a month after the President said in his Democracy Day speech on June 12, 2024, that an executive bill on the new national minimum wage for workers would soon be sent to the National Assembly for passage.

It would be recalled that on June 25, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) chaired by the President stepped down from consideration and deliberation on the memo on the new minimum wage to allow for more engagement with stakeholders.

Tinubu and Vice President Kassim Shettima, at the 141st meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC), met with governors of the 36 states of the Federation and ministers to deliberate on a new minimum wage for workers.

It is pertinent to note that deliberations for a new minimum wage for Nigerian workers have been on for a while.

The Minimum Wage Act of 2019, which made ₦30,000 the minimum wage, expired in April 2024.

The Act should be reviewed every five years to meet contemporary economic demands of workers.

In January, President Bola Tinubu set up a Tripartite Committee to negotiate a new minimum wage for workers.

The committee comprises the Organised Labour, representatives of federal and state governments as well as the Organised Private Sector.

However, the committee members failed to reach an agreement on a new realistic minimum wage for workers, forcing labour to declare an indefinite industrial action on Monday, June 3, 2024.

The labour unions said the current minimum wage of ₦30,000 can no longer cater to the well-being of an average Nigerian worker, saying the government should offer workers something economically realistic in tandem with current inflationary pressures, attendant effects of the twin policies of petrol subsidy removal and unification of the forex windows of the current administration.

Labour “relaxed” its strike on June 4, 2024 following assurances from the President that he was committed to a wage above ₦60,000.

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