By Olusegun Olanrewaju
President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, yesterday said the Organised Labour has no plans to resume its suspended nationwide strike today on the new minimum wage dispute with the Federal Government.
Ajaero said Labour would not go on strike yet because the figures were still on the table of President Bola Tinubu and feedback was being expected.
He said this yesterday at the International Labour Conference taking place in Geneva, Switzerland.
This came as the Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage yesterday submitted a report to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, following the conclusion of its assignment.
It was learnt that the Federal Government team on the negotiation committee forwarded N62,000 to President Tinubu, while the Organised Labour insists it has to be N250,000.
Ajaero said it was still possible for the President to increase the proposed figure before him.
He, however, described it as lazy state governors who declared they could not pay the proposed N62,000 new minimum wage already offered by the Federal Government.
He said, “We cannot declare strike now because the figures are with the President. During the tenure of the immediate past President, the figure that was proposed to him was N27,000 by the tripartite committee but he increased it to N30,000.
“We are hopeful that this President will do the right thing. The President had noted that the difference between N62,000 and N250,000 is a wide gulf. How can any governor say he cannot pay? They cannot also be calling for the decentralization of the minimum wage.
“Are there wages decentralised? Governors whose states are not contributing a dime to the national purse and who generate pitiable Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) are collecting the same amount as governors whose states are generating billions of dollars into the FAAC.
“They should decentralize their salaries and emoluments first. So, where is the governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, getting his money from? He is paying N70,000 minimum wage. This is the type of governor that should be emulated and not the lazy ones.”
*Tripartite committee submits report to FG
Meanwhile, the Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage submitted a report to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Akume.
This was disclosed in a statement by the Director of Information and Public Relations in the office of the SGF, Segun Imohiosen.
He said that a formal presentation of the Report will be made to President Bola Tinubu for appropriate action, when the leadership of the Organised Labour as well as representatives of the Government and Organised Private Sector, who are presently in Geneva, Switzerland for the ongoing International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conference, return to the country.
The SGF thanked the Chairman of the Committee, Bukar Goni Aji, and members for their commitment and sacrifices.
Tinubu inaugurated a 37-member tripartite committee on national minimum wage, on Tuesday, January 30, 2024, by the provisions of the Minimum Wage Act, 2019.
The Committee was tasked with the responsibility of recommending a new national minimum wage for Nigerian workers in public and private sectors.
*Labour won’t accept N62,000
Similarly, an Assistant General Secretary of the NLC, Chris Onyeka, said the Organised Labour would not accept any N62,000 or N100,000 “starvation wage” as the new minimum wage for Nigerian workers.
He said this on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief show yesterday.
He said labour’s latest demand at the last meeting of the Tripartite Committee on Minimum Wage on Friday, was the living wage for an average Nigerian worker.
He said labour won’t accept the latest government’s offer of N62,000 and the N100,000 proposal by some individuals and economists.
Onyeka said, “We have never considered accepting N62,000 or any other wage that we know is below what we know can take Nigerian workers home. We will not negotiate a starvation wage.
“We have never contemplated N100,000 let alone of N62,000. We are still at N250,000, that is where we are, and that is what we considered enough concession to the government and the other social partners in this particular situation. We are not just driven by frivolities but the realities of the marketplace; realities of things we buy every day- bag of rice, yam, garri, and all of that.”
In January 2024, President Bola Tinubu inaugurated a tripartite committee to negotiate a new minimum wage for the country.
At the start of negotiations, Labour presented N615,000 as the new minimum wage but saw reasons to drop their demand to N497,000, and then to N494,000.
Also, in the beginning, the government and the Organised Private Sector proposed N48,000, N54,000, N57,000, and later N60,000, all four offers were rejected by Labour, prompting the strike.
In the heat of the impasse and the attendant consequences of the strike on June 3, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, said the President was committed to a wage above N60,000, and that the government side of the tripartite committee would meet with labour for one week to agree on a wage.
Persuaded, labour “relaxed” its industrial action on Tuesday, June 4, some 24 hours after the strike. Both TUC and NLC leadership subsequently resumed talks with the representatives of the Federal Government, states, Organised Private Sector.
The President also directed the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, to present a template for a new minimum wage. Before the directive, the minister described it as “unaffordable, the demands of labour. Also, the 36 state governors said labour’s demands were not sustainable.
However, on Friday, June 7, 2024, the two sides (labour and the government) failed to reach an agreement. While labour dropped again its demand from N494,000 to N250,000, the government added N2,000 to its initial N60,000 and offered workers N62,000.
