The organised labour says it will not accept N62,000 or N100,000 as the minimum pay for workers.
Speaking on Channels Television’s ‘Morning Brief’ on Monday, Chris Onyeka, assistant general secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), stated that the union will not negotiate a “starvation wage”.
On June 4, the National Labour Council (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) “relaxed” their one-week nationwide strike.
The trade unions went on strike after negotiations with the federal government on a new minimum wage failed.
Organised labour has consistently suggested N615,500 and N494,000 as the new national minimum wage, which the government deemed impossible.
On June 7, the federal government hiked the new minimum salary for workers from N60,000 to N62,000, but labour unions insisted on ₦250,000 as the living wage for an ordinary Nigerian worker at the most recent tripartite committee meeting.
Following that, Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma stated that the tripartite committee on the minimum wage is nearing an agreement.
Meanwhile, governors from the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) have claimed the N60,000 minimum pay for workers is unsustainable.
Onyeka stated on Monday that labour will not take the newest offer of ₦62,000 or the ₦100,000 proposed by some persons and experts.
He said:
“Our position is very clear, we have never considered accepting ₦62,000 or any other wage that we know is below what Nigerian workers can take home. We will not negotiate a starvation wage.”
“We have never contemplated ₦100,000 let alone ₦62,000. We are still at ₦250,000; that is where we are, and that is what we considered enough concession to the government and the other social partners in this particular situation. We are not just driven by frivolities but also by the realities of the marketplace—the realities of things we buy every day: bags of rice, yam, garri, and all of that.”
Onyeka stated that the one-week ultimatum provided to the federal government following the “relaxation of its strike” would expire at midnight on Tuesday, June 11.
He stated that if the federal government and national parliament fail to act on workers’ requests by tomorrow, organised labour will meet to decide whether to resume widespread strike action.
He said:
“The federal government and the national assembly have the call now. It is not our call. Our demand is there for the government to look at and send an executive bill to the national assembly and for the national assembly to look at what we have demanded, the various facts of the law, and then come up with a national minimum act that meets our demands.”
“If that does not meet our demand, we have given the federal government one-week notice to look at the issues and that one week expires tomorrow. If, after tomorrow, we have not seen any tangible response from the government, the organs of organised labour will meet to decide what to do next.
“It was clear what we said. We said we were relaxing a nationwide indefinite strike. It’s like putting a pause on it. So, if you put a pause on something and the organs that govern us as trade unions decide that we should remove that pause, it means that we go back to what was in existence before.”