The Organized Labour has insisted that it won’t accept N62,000 or N100,000 as the minimum wage for workers.
The Assistant General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Chris Onyeka said that the union won’t negotiate a “starvation wage.”
On June 4, the NLC and Trade Union Congress (TUC) temporarily suspended their nationwide strike for a week.
The strike began after negotiations with the federal government on a new minimum wage stalled.
The organized labour had proposed N615,500 and N494,000 as the new national minimum wage, which the government deemed unrealistic.
On June 7, the federal government raised its offer to N62,000, while the labor unions insisted on ₦250,000 as the living wage for Nigerian workers.
Hope Uzodimma, governor of Imo state, stated that the minimum wage committee is close to reaching a consensus.
However, governors under the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) argued that N60,000 is not sustainable.
Speaking on the ‘Morning Brief’ program on Channels Television, Chris Onyeka reiterated that labour won’t accept the latest offer of N62,000 or the N100,000 proposal by some.
He emphasized the importance of a wage that reflects the realities of daily expenses like rice and yam.
“Our position is very clear, we have never considered accepting ₦62,000 or any other wage that we know is below what Nigerian workers can take home. We will not negotiate a starvation wage,” Onyeka said.
“We have never contemplated ₦100,000 let alone of ₦62,000. We are still at ₦250,000; that is where we are, and that is what we considered enough concession to the government and the other social partners in this particular situation.
“We are not just driven by frivolities but also by the realities of the market place—the realities of things we buy every day: bags of rice, yam, garri, and all of that.”
Onyeka said the one-week ultimatum given to the federal government since the strike’s suspension will end on Tuesday, June 11.
He warned that If the government fails to meet the workers’ demands by then, the NLC and TUC will meet to decide on resuming the nationwide strike.
Onyeka clarified that the suspension was a temporary pause, and if the unions decide to remove it, the strike would resume.
“The federal government and the national assembly have the call now. It is not our call.
“Our demand is there for the government to look at and send an executive bill to the national assembly and for the national assembly to look at what we have demanded, the various facts of the law, and then come up with a national minimum act that meets our demands,” he said.
“If that does not meet our demand, we have given the federal government one-week notice to look at the issues and that one week expires tomorrow. If, after tomorrow, we have not seen any tangible response from the government, the organs of the organised labour will meet to decide what to do next.
“It was clear what we said. We said we were relaxing a nationwide indefinite strike. It’s like putting a pause on it. So, if you put a pause on something and the organs that govern us as trade unions decide that we should remove that pause, it means that we go back to what was in existence before.”
KanyiDaily recalls that Fr Ejike Mbaka recently suggested that governors and members of the National Assembly should also receive the proposed N62,000 minimum wage.
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