Organised Labour has again rejected the latest offer of N54,000 minimum wage made by the Federal Government during the resumed national minimum wage negotiation on Tuesday.
The stalemate resulted in the postponement of the meeting to Wednesday following the inability of the labour leaders and government representatives to reach a consensus.
This was the third time the officials of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and the Trade Union Congress, TUC, and representatives of the government would fail to find a common ground on the national minimum wage.
Last week, the labour leaders walked out of a meeting hosted by the tripartite committee on minimum wage negotiation after the Federal Government offered to pay N48,000.
At the same time, the Organised Private Sector made an initial offer of N54,000 in response to labour’s proposed N615,000.
The National President of the NLC, Joe Ajaero, insisted on N615,000 minimum wage, arguing that the amount was arrived at after an analysis of the current economic situation and the needs of an average Nigerian family of six.
He accused the government of failing to provide any substantiated data to support its offer, noting that this undermined the credibility of the negotiation.
To bring back labour to the negotiation table, the Chairman of the Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage, Alhaji Bukar Goni, informed the group that the government had agreed to raise the N48,000 it earlier proposed.
However, at the Tuesday meeting, the government proposed N54,000 but labour insisted on its N615,000 living wage demand.
Labour officials, who were privy to the negotiation, said the Federal Government increased its offer from N48,000 to N54,000.
The sources declined to be quoted because they were not permitted to disclose the details of the negotiation to the media.
N54,000 offer
One of the officials said, “Well, during the meeting, the government increased its offer from N48,000 to N54,000. However, labour rejected that offer and the meeting has been adjourned to Wednesday (today).’’
Another source stated, “They didn’t show any seriousness at all. As regards the private sector, we did not get to them before the meeting was adjourned but we hope they would also increase their initial offer.”
Also, speaking anonymously, a top labour leader noted that the government was ashamed about its offer “Because it knew it was not realistic and it knew it was not going to be accepted.’’
“They knew it was embarrassing to offer workers that kind of paltry sum. Negotiation has not started; negotiation can only start when the government shows seriousness in negotiating,” he stated, warning state governors and the OPS.
He added that organised labour could not negotiate wage reduction because private sector workers were receiving N77,000.
Ajaero and Usifo could not be reached for comments on the stalemated meeting as calls to their phone rang out. They did not respond to messages seeking their comments on the development.
But the Deputy President of NLC Political Commission, Prof. Theophilus Ndubuaku, explained that the Federal Government was deliberately frustrating the Nigerian workers.
Ndubuaku stated that the government was not showing empathy despite knowing that the masses were struggling to adjust to the hardship and inflation occasioned by its policies.
He said, “We are worried about this government. It was as if we were negotiating with people who were not Nigerians. They are behaving like expatriates or people from outer space. We don’t understand.
Madukwe B. Nwabuisi is an accomplished journalist renown for his fearless reporting style and extensive expertise in the field. He is an investigative journalist, who has established himself as a kamikaze reporter.
