President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Festus Osifo, has disclosed that the leadership of the Organized Labour is waiting for the outcome of President Bola Tinubu’s consultation on the new minimum wage.
Comrade Osifo, who spoke at the sideline of a one-day retreat under the theme: ‘Labour reforms and the quest for living wage in Nigeria: A focus on Legislative intervention’, organised by National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), observed that negotiations for the new minimum wage is inexhaustible.
The TUC leader, however, called on the National Assembly to expedite action on the new minimum wage to be passed into law in the interest of Nigerian workers.
“You will agree with me that this particular minimum wage conversation where we are now is one of the fastest we’ve had in recent times. If you remember (the discussion around) the 2019 minimum wage actually started in 2017. It took them almost two years for them to get to where are now.
“But for us when we started, for the Organised Labour, we actually set up a three to four-month timeline for ourselves to push ourselves into action. The Tripartite Committee was able to make recommendations to government. That was to be on the last day of May. And we waited for one month now and much more.
“So, all the interactions that we have had with government, what they’ve told us was that the President wants to do further consultations with Organised Labour, consultation with the Organised Private Sector (OPS), consultation with State and local governments.
“We are waiting for that consultation where we’ll also make our case known to the President because the process of putting a bar on a new minimum wage as we know is a tripartite committee arrangement.
“But that committee is to advise Mr. President. We have submitted our report to Mr. President and we are waiting for that consultation to be on, in the next few days not weeks, so that the President can make an informed decision and submit the minimum wage that will stand the test of time to the National Assembly.
“And we have also been urging the National Assembly to do what is quite apt for them to pass the new minimum wage with the same speed that they passed the new national anthem. We are hopeful that by the end of July that could still be possible,” Osifo added.
* Media Report