Independence NLC President
EKO HOT BLOG reports that Organised Labour has denied claims by President Bola Tinubu that an agreement has been reached on the new national minimum wage, as stated during his Democracy Day broadcast.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), led by Acting President Prince Adewale Adeyanju, insists that the negotiations, which concluded on Friday, June 7, did not yield a consensual decision.
According to Adeyanju, the talks held by the Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage resulted in two distinct proposals: ₦250,000 suggested by Organised Labour and ₦62,000 proposed by the government and the Organised Private Sector (OPS).
None of these figures were agreed upon as a consensus for submission to the President.
The statement reads, “The NLC would have expected that the advisers of the President would have told him that we neither reached any agreement with the federal government and the employers on the base figure for a National Minimum Wage nor on its other components.
“Our demand still remains N250,000, (two hundred and fifty thousand Naira) only and we have not been given any compelling reasons to change this position which we consider a great concession by Nigerian workers during the tripartite negotiation process.
national minimum wage
“We are therefore surprised at the submission of Mr. President over a supposed agreement. We believe that he may have been misled into believing that there was an agreement with the NLC and TUC.
“There was none and it is important that we let the President, Nigerians and other national stakeholders understand this immediately to avoid a mix-up in the ongoing conversation around the national minimum wage.”
This response comes after President Tinubu’s address, which indicated a resolution had been achieved on the wage discussions, thereby causing confusion and discontent among the ranks of Organised Labour.
The President speaking on his plan to fix the economy so that everyone has access to economic opportunity, fair pay and compensation for his endeavour and labour, said, “In this spirit, we have negotiated in good faith and with open arms with organized labour on a new national minimum wage. We shall soon send an executive bill to the National Assembly to enshrine what has been agreed upon as part of our law for the next five years or less.
“In the face of labour’s call for a national strike, we did not seek to oppress or crack down on the workers as a dictatorial government would have done. We chose the path of cooperation over conflict.
“No one was arrested or threatened. Instead, the labour leadership was invited to break bread and negotiate toward a good-faith resolution.
“Reasoned discussion and principled compromise are hallmarks of democracy. These themes shall continue to animate my policies and interaction with the constituent parts of our political economy.”
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