Minimum wage dispute: Labour, FG trade words over Nigerian workers demand

• The NLC and the TUC have heavily criticised President Tinubu's government for not being realistic about the plight of Nigerians
• A top official of the union disclosed this labour is not shifting grounds regarding its N250,000 minimum wage demand
• Legit.ng reports that FG and labour are engaged in a war of words following the plea by the chairman of the Tripartite Committee on minimum wage, Bukar Goni Aji

Legit.ng journalist Esther Odili has over two years of experience covering political parties and movements

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) led by Joe Ajaero, has accused the chairman of the Tripartite Committee on national minimum wage, Bukar Goni Aji, of lacking knowledge of the hardship and suffering workers and other Nigerians were going through.

Recall that Goni urged the organised labour on Sunday, June 16, to reconsider its stance on the N250,000 minimum wage demand based on the current economic considerations and non-monetary incentives that the government has so far provided for workers.

Goni appealed to the NLC and its Trade Union Congress (TUC) counterpart, to accept the federal government's latest offer, citing major reasons.

This is as the federal governor insisted on paying Nigerian workers N62,000; organised labour rejected the offer and proposed N25,000.

NLC lampoons tripartite committee chairman over plea

Speaking on behalf of the labour unions, one of labour’s negotiators in the Tripartite Committee tasked the chairman to urge the government to make its offer reflect the economic conditions and the cost of living faced by workers, Vanguard reported on Monday, June 17.

“Our demand for a national minimum wage of N250,000 is not arbitrary but firmly grounded in the economic realities dictated by the current market prices of essential goods and services.“We plead with the chairman to urge the government to be realistic and refuse the temptation to seek to pay a starvation wage to Nigerian workers. Our nation must not be destroyed so that the few individuals in government will continue to live in opulence while workers and citizens suffer.‘’We stand firm in our demand for N250,000 as the national minimum wage and urge the government to present a realistic offer that genuinely reflects the cost of living and the dignity of Nigerian workers. ‘’We call upon the Tripartite National Minimum Wage Negotiation Committee Chairman to advocate fairness and transparency in this critical wage setting exercise. The resources of our nation need to be equitably and fairly distributed for national development.”

Minimum wage: FG insists on paying N62,000, defends offer

Legit.ng reported earlier that the federal government insisted that the N250,000 minimum wage clamour by organised labour is unsustainable.

Speaking on behalf of the presidency, the special adviser to President Tinubu on information and strategy, Bayo Onanuga, warned that FG cannot channel all its resources to meet such a demand, unless the NLC and TUC were selfish, insisting that FG can only afford to pay N62,000.

He urged the labour unions to consider that the resources meant for the entire Nigerians could not be channeled to only the benefit of their members who are not more than 10 percent of the entire population.

Source: Legit.ng