New Minimum Wage: Labour rejects FG’s offer, fresh strike looms amidst competing proposals

The organised Labour may resume their suspended nationwide strike action, firmly rejecting the proposed ₦62,000 and ₦100,000 minimum wage proposed by experts describing both as “starvation wages” for Nigerian workers.

 

Labour had insisted on its demand for a ₦250,000 minimum wage, considering the high cost of living in the country.

 

Chris Onyeka, Assistant General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), while speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief show on Monday stated that
“Our stance is unequivocal.”

 

“We have never considered accepting ₦62,000 or any wage that falls short of sustaining Nigerian workers,” he said.

 

“We will not negotiate a starvation wage. ₦100,000 was never on the table for us, let alone ₦62,000.
“We remain steadfast at ₦250,000, which we believe is a reasonable concession to the government and other social partners. Our demand is based on market realities—the cost of everyday essentials like rice, yam, and garri.”

 

 

He reminded the Federal Government that the one-week grace period given last Tuesday, June 4, 2024, would end at midnight on Tuesday, June 11, 2024 (tomorrow), adding that the NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) would convene to decide on resuming the nationwide industrial action that was temporarily halted last week if the Federal Government and National Assembly fail to address the workers’ demands by Tuesday.

 

According to Onyeka: “The Federal Government and the National Assembly need to take action now. It’s not up to us. Our demand is clear: they need to send an Executive Bill to the National Assembly, which should then consider our demands and the relevant legal facts to create a National Minimum Act that meets our requirements.

“If our demands are not met, we have given the Federal Government a one-week notice, which expires tomorrow (Tuesday). If we don’t receive a satisfactory response from the government by then, the Organised Labour bodies will meet to decide the next steps.”

He also warned: “We clearly stated that we are pausing the nationwide indefinite strike. If the governing bodies of our trade unions decide to lift that pause, it means we will resume the strike as previously planned.”