The Minister of Information, Idris Mohammed, said the Finance Minister, Wale Edun, will present a new minimum wage template today (Wednesday, June 5, 2024) to President Bola Tinubu.
Mohammed made this statement during an interview with newsmen on Tuesday at the State House in Abuja.
Recall on Tuesday that the organized labour suspended its strike for five days following an agreement with the federal government to pay a minimum wage above N60,000 to workers.
Reacting to the development, Mohammed said the government is working on a new template to be submitted to the committee.
“The government has just summoned the meeting of all those who negotiated on the federal government led by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF). The Minister of Finance was there, the Minister of Budget and Economy Planning, myself, and others. We were all there to look at those issues.
“The president has directed the Minister of Finance to do the number and get back to him between today (Tuesday) and tomorrow (Wednesday). So that we can have some figures ready for negotiations.
“Let me say that Mr. President is determined to go with what the committee has said. He is also looking at the welfare of Nigerians. As I said earlier, the government is not an opponent of labour discussion.
“We are not an opponent of wage increase. But What is there is that we are always desirous in ensuring that there is a balance between what government pronouncement is, and what is readily available on ground,” Mohammed added.
Backstory
The National Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) declared an indefinite strike on Monday, virtually shutting down all economic activities in the country.
The organized labour decided to embark on industrial action after the negotiations between them and the government over the minimum wage of workers came to an impasse.
NLC and TUC initially proposed a new wage of N615,000 to the federal government. However, after many negotiations and deliberations, the union settled for the sum of N419,000.
On its part, however, the government insisted on paying the sum of N60,000, adding that the proposed amount from the labour union is unsustainable.
NLC, TUC called off the strike for five days
Meanwhile, after meeting with the leadership of the NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), the federal government signed a resolution, agreeing to pay above N60,000 minimum wage.
The agreement led to a temporal suspension of the industrial action on the part of the unions on Tuesday, giving the government a week to upwardly review the minimum wage above N60,000
They equally resolved that the Tripartite Committee would meet every day for the next one week to arrive at an agreeable National Minimum Wage.
With this development, every government and private office are expected to reopen and function as usual.
In addition, the president of TUC in an interview on Tuesday, said the unions will not accept a meagre addition to the initially proposed N60,000, adding that the new minimum wage must be way above that amount.