The Federal Government has increased its minimum wage proposal by N3,000, bringing the new offer to N60,000. This adjustment was made during a meeting of the tripartite committee on minimum wage in Abuja on Tuesday. In response, organised labour, represented by the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), also lowered their demand by N3,000, reducing it from N497,000 to N494,000.
However, the new proposal from the government did not sit well with labour leaders. According to a source familiar with the discussions, labour representatives were not satisfied with the government's revised offer.
A union member, speaking to our correspondent before the meeting began, indicated that organised labour would consider lowering their demands further only if the government significantly increased its offer.
“This is simply a case of if they go higher, we will go lower. They need to propose something reasonable for us to propose something lower too. There is no two-way about it," the labour leader stated.
He also mentioned that the labour unions hold internal meetings before each committee session to ensure they present a unified stance during negotiations. “As long as the government is ready to present something reasonable, we will meet them in the middle,” he added.
