The Nigerian Senate, National Assembly, and the Federal government mediation meeting with the organized labor unions ended in a stalemate.
The meeting was initiated by the Nigerian Senate led by Senator Godswill Akpabio to forge a common ground in the ongoing National Minimum Wage Negotiation that has ended thrice without result, which angered the leadership of the Organised Labour Unions to announce an indefinite Nationwide Strike, starting on Monday, 3, June 2024
Inside Agwa gathered that the Sunday 2, June 2024 mediation meeting was crucial in other to avert further plunging the economy if Labour is allowed to commence the proposed strike.
The Federal Government has fumed that the Demand for Organised Labour is unrealistic going by the economic situation in the country, at the same time, the leadership of NLC and TUC are saying that the Federal Government proposal of 60,000 is not based on practical daily life living condition as it is in the country today.
According to the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, the 494,000 demand for Labour would have a drastic economic effect on the over 200 million population of Nigeria and also lead to job losses by the workers in the private sector who may not be able to pay.
In a press release on Saturday signed by his aids, Rabiu Ibrahim, Idris, hammered that going by the demand of Labour, the sum of 494,000 minimum wage would snuff life out of the government’s finance of expenditure of 9.5 trillion on approximately 1.2 million workers for which labor is agitating for; a development he described as untenable.
Idris went further to say that the current proposal by the Federal Government of 60,000 which has been accepted by the Organised Private Sector, represents a 100 percent increase from the 2019 minimum wage. He, therefore, advised the organized labor to return to the negotiating table with the Federal Government to agree on a reasonable minimum wage and shelve their proposed strike.
Meanwhile, the convener of the Sunday’s meeting, Senator Godswil Akpabio, however, solicited labor to accept the proposal of 60,000 in the interest of the common people who would be more impoverished by the consequences of the proposed strike and it was turned down as labor held on to 494,000 and would instead, commenced the indefinite nationwide strike on Monday 2, June 2024.
Recall that the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Organised Private Sector had previously on three occasions proposed 48,000, 54,000, and 60,000 respectively as the national minimum wage payable to Nigerian workers for which, the Nigerian Organized Labour Unions, moved ground twice with her first proposal being 610,000, second, 497,000 and 494,000 respectively.
Some of the dignitaries that attended the meeting were the Secretary to the Federal Government, Senator George Akume, the Coordinating Minister of Economy, Wale Edu, Minister of Labour, Nkiruka Onyejiocha, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abas, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin, House Leader, Prof. Julius Ihonvbere, Comr. Joe Ajaero, President NLC, Comr. Festus Osifo, President, TUC, among others
