The organised labour comprising of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) has said that its N250,000 demand and the N62,000 figure handed down by the tripartite committee for new minimum wage will remain until after talks with President Bola Tinubu.
While labour insists on N250,000 as a new minimum wage, the committee had pegged it at N62,000.
But during a meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa on Thursday, the labour led by the NLC President, Joe Ajaero, and his TUC counterpart, Festus Osifo, said nothing has changed about the demands.
Ajaero said the meeting – which lasted for about an hour and was later adjourned to next week – was not a negotiation and the two figures remain on the table.
“In the real sense, it wasn’t a negotiation but a discussion and we have had that discussion. We agreed to look at the real terms probably and reconvene in the next week. So, that’s where we are because we didn’t go down there to talk naira and kobo,” Ajaero said.
“At least there were some basic issues that we agreed on. The status quo in terms of the amount N250,000 and N62,000 remains until we finish this conversation.”
Also speaking, Osifo stated that the labour delegation informed the President of the economic difficulties Nigerians are going through.
“In the meeting, we tried to put the issues on the table, issues that are bothering and biting Nigerians today. The economic difficulties and the value of the naira, how it has also eroded, and how these have affected the prices of commodities and goods in the market,” the TUC president said.
“So, we tried to put these before Mr President because he is the president of the country and the bulk stops at his table.
“We have had all the conversations with all his agents, but today we said let us meet with the father of the country and have this conversation and make the argument that labour always makes. We made all the arguments, the economic analysis, macro, micro, fiscal and monetary issues.
“So, we put everything forward and at the end, the President made his remark as the president and we all agreed let’s go back, we internalise it, we have some conversation, and by one week time, we will come back and we will continue the meeting.”
