The ongoing negotiation of a new minimum wage between the Nigerian government and the Organised Labour, represented by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) has reached some concessions, however, a resolution has yet to be reached.
The labour and the government held a negotiation meeting on Wednesday having met twice in the last 7 days. The government in the first meeting proposed N48,000 as the new minimum wage which the workers’ leaders rejected. The government shifted ground at the second meeting and adjusted the offer to N54,000 but was also rejected by the labour who stated that it was far below the N615,000 being demanded.
However, at the fresh meeting on Wednesday, the government gave a fresh offer of N57,000, it was also rejected by the union.
A source privy to discussions at the meeting revealed that the government team complained of non-availability of fund and the inability of the private sector to pay the amount proposed by the labour.
However, after the break it took to consult, the government team added N3,000 to its earlier offer, according to sources quoted by Vanguard, thereby, upping its offer to ₦57,000 from the initial ₦54,000 it presented during last week’s meeting.
According to the source, “Government has agreed that NLC is using evidence-based presentation. But they argue that eight states are not paying or not fully implementing the 2019 minimum wage.”
The source further said, “Government is talking of non-availability of funds. They are also talking about the inability of the private sector to pay.”
The N57,000 proposed by the government matches the figure being proposed by the OPS as well, but it remains to be seen if labour would accept the figure.
According to the source, the Organised Labour also saw reasons to drop their demand from the initial ₦615,000 minimum wage to ₦497,000.
With just 10 days remaining before the May 31 deadline set by labour, both parties are yet to find common ground. NLC President Joe Ajaero stressed the need for a substantial increase, highlighting the stark contrast between the economic realities of workers and other sectors of society. He expressed hope for continued negotiations to bridge this gap.
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