The tripartite minimum wage negotiation meeting held on Tuesday involving Organised Labour, the federal and state governments, and the Organized Private Sector ended without a resolution. Naija News reports that the meeting reached a deadlock after Organised Labour rejected the federal government’s proposed minimum wage of N54,000.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶
Labour leaders expressed frustration over the absence of state governors, who did not attend the meeting to present their offers, with their representatives claiming they lacked the authority to make decisions.
According to sources, labour leaders maintained that the Federal Government had not made a serious offer and seemed to be stalling.
The labour unions argued that the proposed N54,000 was insufficient, pointing out that it was significantly less than the N77,000 salary currently earned by the lowest-paid federal workers.
The meeting is set to reconvene today at 4 pm, with an agreement that state governors must be present to provide their proposals.
In an interview with Vanguard on Tuesday evening, Professor Theophilus Ndubuaku, a member of the Tripartite Committee on the National Minimum Wage, criticized the absence of six governors representing the six geopolitical zones.
He emphasized the importance of having the governors’ participation to reach a meaningful agreement.
Ndubuaku highlighted the May 31 deadline that labour had given to the government to finalize negotiations.
He explained: “It took the government team some time to decide who would present the offer. Eventually, the Minister of Labour announced they had increased their proposal to N54,000.
“We told them that this proposal was meaningless. The negotiation hasn’t even started because the current take-home pay for the lowest-paid federal worker is over N77,000. By their standard, we’re discussing wage reduction, not minimum wage.
“If we agree on N54,000, it means we’re asking workers currently earning N77,000 to accept a pay cut. Is there a decrease in inflation or living costs that justifies this? Why would we negotiate a wage reduction in such circumstances?
“Negotiating wage reduction is unthinkable. The government’s revenue has not decreased despite the removal of the petroleum subsidy, and inflation is rising along with the cost of living. We cannot accept this, so we had to adjourn since we cannot continue without the governors. It would not be beneficial for the tripartite committee.”
Commenting on the reaction of the organised labour to the N54,000 proposal, Ndubuaku said: “When they offered N54,000, we told them this wasn’t a real concession. Negotiations for the minimum wage must start from a realistic point. Anything below N77,000 is a wage reduction.
“We have given them until May 31 to conclude the negotiations. Today is May 21, and we only have 10 days left. It is crucial for the country that we reach a timely resolution.