Consultations on the Minimum Wage between Organised Labour and President Bola Tinubu have once more concluded without an agreement.
The emergency meeting, convened at President Tinubu’s request, ended without any resolutions.
Labour leaders, addressing reporters after the meeting, indicated that discussions with the Presidency will resume next week.
They also noted the need to brief their respective organs on the outcomes of their talks with the President.
Joe Ajaero, NLC president, said the meeting was not a negotiation but a discussion with the president.
“In a real sense, it wasn’t a negotiation but a discussion, and we have had that discussion.
“We agreed to look at the real terms probably and reconvene in the next one week.
“So that’s where we are. We didn’t go down there to talk naira and kobo. At least there were some basic issues that we agreed on.
“We didn’t go into naira and kobo discussions. Now the status quo in terms of the amount N250,000 and N62,000 remains until we finish this conversation.”
Recall that President Tinubu in his Democracy Day speech on June 12, 2024, announced that an executive bill proposing a new national minimum wage would soon be forwarded to the National Assembly for approval.
On June 25, the Federal Executive Council, under the President’s leadership, postponed discussions on the new minimum wage proposal to allow for more consultations with stakeholders before presenting the executive bill.
The President made this decision after receiving the report on the Minimum Wage from the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, who had received it from the Chairman of the Tripartite Committee, Bukar Goni Aji.
The report recommended a minimum wage of N62,000 based on submissions from federal and state governments, as well as the Organised Private Sector.
Following consultations, labour unions proposed N250,000 as the new minimum wage, whereas state governors expressed concerns about their ability to pay N62,000.
Negotiations over the minimum wage had been ongoing for some time, with Organised Labour, government representatives, and the private sector failing to reach an agreement.
President Bola Tinubu established the tripartite committee in January to negotiate a new minimum wage before the expiration of the Minimum Wage Act of 2019 in April 2024.
