The organised labour has rejected a fresh minimum wage proposal by the federal government. The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) declined the offer of ₦60,000 as the new minimum wage.
The unions, however, adjusted their stance from ₦497,000 last week to ₦494,000, according to Channels Television.
The federal government and the organised private sector on Tuesday proposed a ₦60,000 monthly minimum wage, contrasting with the ₦57,000 proposed in the last meeting of the Tripartite Committee on minimum wage.
Initially, the government proposed ₦48,000 and ₦54,000 last week, which the labour unions also rejected.
The worker’s unions had initially presented ₦615,000 as the new minimum wage but later adjusted their demand to ₦497,000 last week and further to ₦494,000 on Tuesday.
Today’s meeting ended without an agreement on the new minimum wage.
The government and the organised labour are yet to agree on a new minimum wage just about three days before the May 31 deadline the unions gave to round up the negotiations.
The current minimum wage was increased from N18,000 to N30,000 during former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in 2019. Not all governors are paying the current wage, which expires in April 2024. The minimum wage act should be reviewed every five years to meet up with contemporary economic demands of workers.