...As Negotiations Continue On Friday
The federal government has invited the leadership of organised labour for fresh talks on Friday as it battles to meet the May 31 deadline set by the union for the government to end negotiations on the proposed new minimum wage.
Recall that the President of the Trade Union Congress, Festus Osifo, had said on May Day that “If by May end, we don’t have a new minimum wage that will take a worker home, we will not be able to guarantee industrial peace. We are sticking to that ultimatum.”
However, the negotiations for a new minimum wage had been stalled on Tuesday, after the federal government delegation increased their earlier proposal by N3,000 to N60,000 with organised labour reducing theirs by the same margin to a final proposal of N494,000.
THE WHISTLER reported that organised labour was disappointed with the pattern of negotiation, which prompted the meeting to end in deadlock and adjourned indefinitely.
But THE WHISTLER learned on Thursday that the continuation of the tripartite meeting will continue on Friday, May 31 2024, by 10 am, with both unions reiterating that the May 31 ultimatum is still in motion.
A top source who spoke anonymously said, “We will meet with the federal government in Abuja on Friday by 10:00 am to continue the minimum wage discussion.
“Our bone of contention is for the federal and state governments, Organised Private Sector (OPS) and other tripartite members to explain how they arrived at the N60,000 proposal.
“Although negotiations continue tomorrow, it will not stop the earlier announcement of the May 31 ultimatum”.
Also speaking on the issue, the National President of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) Etim Okon, said, “A joint National Executive Council (NEC) gave us a mandate to uphold the ultimatum, so everyone should wait till May 31”.
Okon, who is also the Vice-President of the TUC when asked if the TUC will honour Friday’s meeting, said, “I cannot reply to this, we are not working as TUC but as organised labour as far as the issue of minimum wage is concerned”.
He described the N3,000 increase as “embarrassing”, alleging that the federal government is not serious about the minimum wage discussion.
Okon said, “We have been able to explicitly defend our demands, but after we walked out, they increased it by N3,000 which is very embarrassing, and we also responded by a N3,000 decrease.
“They are coming to the negotiation table without seriousness, It is a clear indication that the government is lackadaisical in their statement and approach to ensuring that the national minimum wage comes to stand.
“The government needs to know that the informal economy receives from workers take-home pay, we want the government to show seriousness.
“Because we walked away, you issued notice for another meeting, who is fooling who”.
Earlier the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, in a statement signed by the Director of Press and Public Relations, Olajide Oshundun appealed to organised Labour to be considerate and patriotic in their demands for the ongoing minimum wage negotiation.
She had said, “We appeal to organised labour and, indeed, other relevant stakeholders to be considerate and patriotic in their demands, recognising that our economy is still recovering from the devastating effects of the pandemic and other global economic shocks.
“We are committed to putting the people first and ensuring that our economic policies benefit all Nigerians, not just a select few”.