The Trade Union Congress (TUC), one-half of the Organized Labour has berated the Bola Tinubu-led administration for its nonchalant attitude towards finding a solution to the minimum wage debacle.
The Union was speaking through its President, Festus Osifo, who appeared as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
Osifo vowed to order nationwide demonstrations if the negotiations go on without a solution.
“The government must be very serious in addressing the issue of a new minimum wage,” he said.
Discussions over a new minimum wage for Nigerian Workers have going on for months, resulting in the Organized Labour issuing a May 31 ultimatum.
Labour originally asked for a ₦615,000 minimum wage but lowered it twice, now down to ₦494,000. The government and the organized private sector initially suggested ₦48,000 and ₦54,000 respectively, which were also turned down by labour.
The latest rejection was on Tuesday, May 28, when the Organized Labour dismissed the ₦60,000 proposal of the Federal Government, an offer which does not tally with the nation’s economic realities, according to Osifo.
Osifo revealed that the rejection was premised on the data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) which pegged Nigeria’s inflation rate at 33.69% as of April 2024.
“So, for us, we completely reject it. We want the government to be serious. Let them come and give us a breakdown of how a family is going to live with the minimum wage of ₦60,000,” he said.
“Remember, our ultimatum still subsists that we have issued on May 1st and today is the 28th day of May. So, what that clearly means is that we still have three days to resolve this matter.”
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