NEW MINIMUM WAGE: FG holds c’ttee meeting today as Labour insists on May 31 deadline

The Federal Government has summoned a meeting of a 37-member Tripartite Committee on the New National Minimum Wage (NNMW) for today in a major effort to beat the May 31, 2024 deadline of the organised labour.

President Bola Tinubu, through the Vice President, Kashim Shettima, on January 30, 2024 inaugurated the 37-member tripartite committee to come up with a new minimum wage.

The committee is chaired by the former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Goni Aji.

Recall that the organised labour under the platform of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) had insisted on embarking on a nationwide strike if discussions on the new minimum wage were not concluded on the above date.

The Labour Unions had stood their ground on having 615,000 NGN as the new national minimum wage.

The organised labour had on May 1, 2024, in a joint address during the May Day celebration at the Eagle Square, Abuja, warned that “if, however, the negotiation on the national minimum wage is not concluded by the end of May, the trade union movement in Nigeria will no longer guarantee industrial peace in the country.”

In order to beat the deadline, and avoid the strike, the Federal Government through the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC) which is the secretariat of NNMW, summoned a meeting of the Tripartite Committee NNMW, today, with the Nicon Luxury Hotel, Abuja, as venue.

The invitation letter to the meeting, as gathered, was signed by the Secretary/ member of the Tripartite Committee NNMW, Ekpo Nta.

READ ALSO: Nigerian govt may need supplementary budget to meet demands of new minimum wage, says IMF

Recall that in the Zonal meetings held across different states on May 7, the NLC and the TUC, proposed various figures as a living wage, referencing the current economic crunch and the high costs of living.

In their different proposals on the minimum wage, the NLC asked the South-West states to pay N794,000 as the TUC mentioned N447,000.

At the North-Central zone hearing in Abuja, the workers demanded N709,000 as the new national minimum wage, while in the South-South, N850,000 minimum wage was demanded.

In the North-West, N485,000 was proposed, while the South-East stakeholders demanded N540,000 minimum wage.

The organised labour would later propose N615,000 as a living wage.

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