The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) have both agreed not to succumb to the Federal Government’s N57,000 minimum wage proposal.
The union leaders, however, insisted — as of the time of this report — not to accept any offer below N100,000.
They described FG’s negotiation moves from N48,000 to N57,000 as “unserious.”
Meanwhile, the National Economic Council is expected to meet Monday to continue negotiations.
The federal government had earlier proposed N54,000 as minimum wage out of the 497,000 demand of the labour unions.
The organised labour had initially requested N615,000.
NLC and TUC have, however, maintained it stand on May 31 as the deadline for the implementation of the new minimum wage.
Joe Ajaero, the NLC president, had stated that the N615,000 was as a result of the current economic situation of the nation, adding that “despite earnest efforts to reach an equitable agreement, the less than reasonable action of the Government and the Organised Private Sector has led to a breakdown in negotiations.”
With the proposed initial minimum wage of N615,000, the government’s personnel costs for 1.5 million workers will rise from about N7 trillion, which it currently stands to N11 trillion.
Ben Akabueze, the director general of the budget office of the federation, had said the government’s personnel cost was over N5 trillion, with 1.5 million workers under the federal government’s payroll.
According to a “cost of living estimate” released by the NLC, it will cost a Nigerian worker N9,000 to feed for 30 days, amounting to N270,000.
Each worker is also projected to spend at least N110,000 on transportation in a month.
