TUC President: The N250,000 minimum wage demand

TUC President: The N250,000 minimum wage demand is not set in stone.

Festus Osifo, the president of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), stated that organized labor’s proposed N250,000 minimum wage is both negotiable and not inflexible.

Osifo stated as much during a Friday interview on Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily.

According to him, the goal of organized labor is to set a fair minimum wage that both sides can accept.

He claimed that the federal government’s reluctance to negotiate over the proposed N60,000 was the cause of the previous

statewide strike, leaving the labor movement with little alternative but to take industrial action.

As we have always stated, there is always space for interpretation and minor modifications when providing data. There is no set number that will become the focus of attention for both sides.

The previous time we went on industrial action, one of the reasons being that they informed us a kobo could not even participate in the

N60,000 proposal. That was among the factors contributing to the industrial action.

“I don’t think the National Assembly would have declared yesterday that they are prepared to pass the minimum wage right

after Sallah if it weren’t for that action. We occasionally witnessed certain plots involving delays.

Osifo stated, “So we are not fixated 100%.”

Talks about topics other than minimum wage
Osifo added that during

the unions’ meeting with the tripartite committee, they had additional discussions with the federal government.

According to him, these discussions cover the federal government’s initiatives to make doing business in the nation easier and to prevent businesses from leaving Nigeria.

We made it clear to them that we wanted to know what steps the Ministers were taking to stop the trend of companies leaving Nigeria.

“In addition to discussing the minimum wage, the tripartite committee has also discussed the federal government’s efforts to prevent enterprises from leaving the country in the present day.

We recently learned that Guinness is leaving. Kimberly Clark also informed us that they were leaving.

“Some of these departure decisions took time to get to. Usifo continued, “What steps is the Minister of Trade and Investment taking to lessen these exits?

Things to be aware about

The National Labour Congress (NLC) and TUC had earlier informed the federal government that they were proposing a new salary of N615,000, according to Nairametrics.

But following protracted talks, the union settled on a payment of $250,000.

The government, on the other hand, insisted on receiving N62,000, claiming that the union’s suggested sum was not feasible.

Furthermore, the government’s suggested amount was approved by the organized private sector, which was a member of the tripartite committee on minimum wage.

Legal conflicts frequently arise from the unsolved split between organized labor and succeeding administrations.

Following the tripartite committee meeting, President Tinubu received the recommendations from each party.

The president responded by saying he will forward the recommendations to the National Assembly for approval.