Tuesday, June 4, 2024 - The FG has dismissed the ₦494,000 minimum wage demand by the Organised Labour saying it will push up inflation and is highly unrealistic.
The comment was made by the
Minister of Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, as She appealed to
the Organised Labour to shelve its ongoing industrial action.
Onyejeocha said the Federal
Government is not the sole decider of a new minimum wage as it must be
determined by state governments and the Organised Private Sector.
“The Federal Government takes into
cognisance that it’s the tripartite committee that would also ensure that if Mr
A agrees to pay, he has to pay,” the minister said on Channels Television’s
Politics Today programme on Monday, the day 1 of the strike.
“Remember that when ₦18,000 minimum
wage was agreed upon, certain states couldn’t pay. After that, ₦30,000 minimum
wage, some states couldn’t pay as we speak. So, it’s not something you decide
for people… the Federal Government does not have that power to impose,” she
said.
The labour minister appealed to the
aggrieved unions to consider the ₦60,000 offer by the government and the
Organised Private Sector, saying the ₦494,000 demand by the Organised Labour
would push up Nigeria’s inflation beyond the current 33.69%.
The minister said the economic loss of the
strike in the last 24 hours have been huge as businesses, airports,
universities, hospitals and power supply were affected.
Onyejeocha said with the “hardship”
inflicted on Nigerians in the last 24 hours since the strike commenced, labour
should rescind its decision, suspend the strike and come back to the
negotiation table to arrive at a realistic wage for workers in the country.
During the failed talks with the government,
Labour rejected three government offers, the latest being N60,000. The TUC and
the NLC subsequently pulled out of negotiations, insisting on ₦494,000 as the
new minimum wage.
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