Following a deadlock at the Tripartite Committee meeting on Tuesday, Organised Labour has scaled down its demand for a new minimum wage from N615,000 to N500,000.
News About Nigeria understood that the disclosure was made by Prof. Theophilus Ndubuaku, the Deputy President of the Nigeria Labour Congress Political Commission.
He revealed this decision in an exclusive interview with The Punch Newspaper on Wednesday.
According to Ndubuaku, the labour team was forced to revise its demand to facilitate an agreement with the Federal Government. However, he expressed frustration that despite their concession, the government is still dragging its feet in the negotiation process.
“Yes, it is true we have reduced it to N500,000. But we are still not making progress at the moment,” he said.
When asked about the next course of action if Wednesday’s meeting ends in another deadlock, the union leader hinted that they may be left with no choice but to advise Nigerian workers to stay back home until the government presents an acceptable offer.
Ndubuaku had earlier expressed labour’s disappointment on Tuesday, stating that the government’s lack of empathy towards the struggling masses was appalling, given the hardship and inflation caused by its policies.
This development comes amidst growing tensions between Organised Labour and the Federal Government over the minimum wage negotiations.
It was earlier reported that the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, insisted that the organized labour will agree to nothing less than N615,000 as the new minimum wage.
This followed the federal government’s decision to increase its offer from N48,000 to N54,000.
Ajaero revealed that the NLC carefully considered the impact of the fuel subsidy removal and other economic factors before arriving at the N615,000 figure. He stated that the union added up the costs of feeding, housing, gas, education, and medical expenses to determine a suitable wage for Nigerian workers to survive.
Ajaero explained that the NLC excluded expenses like communication, tithes, and offerings from the calculation.
He noted that the removal of the fuel subsidy and subsequent price fixing, which led to fuel prices rising to over N700 per litre, significantly affected workers’ livelihoods.
The NLC president went on to say that the union considered global experiences, including the United Nations’ position that no one can survive on less than $2 per day. Based on this, the union estimated the monthly expenses for a family of six, including N270,000 for feeding, N40,000 for accommodation, N50,000 for education, and N50,000 for Medicare, among other expenses.
