The president of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Festus Osifo, on Tuesday said that organised labour will reject an “unreasonable” addition to the federal government’s N60,000 minimum wage offer.
Osifo stated this in an interview with Channels Television, noting that the labour unions are not fixated on the sum of N494,000 as the new minimum wage.
He also acknowledged that the labour unions understand it is not feasible for everyone to afford to pay N494,000, as it would be difficult for all parties involved.
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“We told the federal government that it is not acceptable to start adding 1 naira and N3,000 when we get to the negotiation table, as they have been doing,” Osifo said.
“If the federal government had told us on Sunday that we should give them one week to resolve the issue, and if what we achieved on Monday was achieved on Sunday, there would have been no need for us to embark on industrial action.
“In all seriousness, they know we are not fixated on N494,000, and we understand that N494,000 cannot be afforded by everyone.”
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The leaders of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and TUC had declared a national strike following their failure to reach an agreement with the Federal Government on a new minimum wage.
Organised labour had demanded a new minimum wage of N497,000 for Nigerian workers, which they reduced to N494,000.
However, after several meetings, the Federal Government proposed the sum of N60,000.
The labour unions also failed to reach an agreement with the government on reversing the recent hike in electricity tariffs, leading to a nationwide strike beginning on Monday and grinding Nigeria’s economy to a halt.
