The federal government and organised Labour will resume negotiation on a new national minimum wage on Friday, May 31, following a breakdown of talks.
President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Joe Ajaero confirmed this to our reporter following a letter by the chairman of the Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage inviting Labour to the table.
A copy of the letter, which was signed by the Secretary of the Committee, Ekpo Nta, was obtained by our reporter on Wednesday.
Ajaero confirmed that organised Labour will honour the invitation but warned that the discussion will not be a “monologue.”
He said: “Yes, we will attend but you know our ultimatum expires on Friday. If they present a better offer on Friday we will accept it.
“But we will not attend the meeting for the sake of talks. We will not go into a monologue.”
On Tuesday, talks between the Federal Government and organised Labour broke down after the government and organised private sector (OPS) raised their offers to N60,000.
The government added N3,000 to its initial offer of N57,000 proposed last week, taking the total figure to N60,000.
It was dismissed by labour at the meeting.
Labour described the proposal as “insulting” while walking away from the tripartite meeting.
At the meeting, labour again lowered its demand by removing N3,000 from the N497,000 it proposed last week, pegging the new proposal at N494,000.
To fast-track the negotiation process, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) on May Day gave the committee till the end of the month to wrap up talks on a new national minimum wage.
That ultimatum will expire on Friday night.
President of the TUC, Comrade Festus Osifo said the ultimatum issued by labour remained following the breakdown of talks on Tuesday.
“We have an ultimatum on May Day that if by May end, we don’t have a new minimum wage that will take a worker home, we will not be able to guarantee industrial peace.
“We are sticking to that ultimatum,” the president of the TUC, Osifo said.
President Bola Tinubu on May Day promised to pay workers a living wage.
President Tinubu, through vice president, Kashim Shettima, on January 30, 2024, inaugurated the 37-member tripartite committee to come up with a new minimum wage.
With its membership cutting across federal, and state governments, the private sector, and organised labour, the panel is to recommend a new national minimum wage for the country.
Shettima, during the committee’s inauguration, urged the members to “speedily” arrive at a resolution and submit their reports early.
“This timely submission is crucial to ensure the emergence of a new minimum wage,” Shettima said.
He also urged collective bargaining in good faith, emphasising contract adherence and encouraging consultations outside the committee.
The 37-man committee is chaired by the former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Goni Aji.
