In the ongoing debate over the establishment of a new minimum wage for Nigerian workers, organised labour has expressed flexibility in their demands, stating they are not strictly adhering to a specific figure.
This development surfaced following the conclusion of the tripartite committee’s discussions on the matter last week.
The committee, which includes representatives from the government, the organised private sector, and labour unions, has forwarded two proposed figures to President Bola Tinubu for his consideration.
The government and the private sector have jointly suggested a minimum wage of ₦62,000. In contrast, organised labour has initially put forth a considerably higher demand of ₦250,000.
Despite the significant disparity in proposed figures, there appears to be an openness to further discussions and adjustments. The President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Festus Osifo, emphasized this point during his appearance on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief.
Osifo mentioned, “No figure is sacrosanct,” indicating that the unions are prepared to negotiate a mutually agreeable wage that reflects the economic realities of the nation.
“What we said is that for us, when we give figures, there is always a room to meander, there is always a room for us to do some adjustment here and there,” Osifo said.
“So, there is no figure that is sacrosanct, there is no figure that is cast in stone that both parties will be fixated on it. One of the reasons that we went on industrial action the last time was because when it got to N60,000, they told us that a kobo cannot even join the N60,000, that they cannot even add one naira to it.
“So that was one of the reasons that led to that industrial action beyond the fact that there were also delays.”
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