In an effort to resolve issues with organized labor, President Bola Tinubu has instructed that the financial implications of a new minimum wage be presented within two days. According to Vanguard, this directive was given to Wale Edun, the finance minister, during a meeting with the government negotiation team led by George Akume at the presidential villa on June 4.
Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, shared this update following their closed-door meeting with President Tinubu. Idris noted that the president and government representatives discussed their ongoing negotiations with organized labor regarding the new minimum wage. Present at the meeting were the finance, budget, and national planning ministers, along with their counterparts from the Labor Ministry and the NNPC Limited GMD.
Idris stated: “We reviewed all issues, and the president has directed the finance minister to crunch the numbers and report back within the next two days so we can have figures ready for negotiation with labor.”
Meanwhile, organized labor has declared it will reject any minimal increase beyond the current N60,000 offer proposed by the tripartite committee. This stance was confirmed by TUC President Festus Osifo during an appearance on Channels Television’s “Politics Today” on Tuesday evening.
Osifo emphasized that the nationwide strike, which began early Monday and caused significant disruptions, was suspended to facilitate further negotiations. However, he made it clear that labor unions would not accept a nominal increase. “Our decision to suspend the strike was in good faith to allow for more constructive dialogue. However, any token addition to the N60,000 initially proposed will not be acceptable to us,” Osifo stated………See More