NLC, TUC boycott negotiations as FG promises to shift ground

• We’ll fund N70,000 minimum wage from savings, others, says Obaseki

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), yesterday, boycotted the ongoing meeting on the implementation of a new national minimum wage.

The Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage had scheduled its Wednesday meeting to continue yesterday, but members of the NLC and TUC did not attend, saying the government must first put its house in order.

The trade unions had, after Wednesday’s meeting, said they decided to walk out of the ongoing negotiations after the Federal Government and the Organised Private Sector (OPS) offered minimum wage proposals of N48,000 and N54,000 respectively.

They said the figures insult the sensibilities of Nigerian workers and fall short of meeting their needs and aspirations. They stressed that the paltry amounts further demonstrate the unwillingness of employers and government to faithfully negotiate a fair national minimum wage for workers.

Chairman of the committee, Bukar Aji, appeared to have acknowledged the insistence of the unions, especially given their refusal to attend yesterday’s meeting. In a letter he signed and addressed to the presidents of NLC and TUC, Aji urged them to return to the negotiation table.

Noting that the meeting would be reconvened on Tuesday, May 21, Aji said he had held discussions with members, promising there was a willingness to shift grounds as soon as negotiation starts.

In a related development, the Edo State governor, Godwin Obaseki, said the N70,000 new minimum wage for civil and public servants in the state will be funded by revenue inflow on the back of the government’s business-friendly policies as well as savings from expenditure as a result of nuanced reforms by his administration over the past seven and a half years.

Obaseki, who spoke to journalists in Benin City, said: “I have been a private sector person for most of my career before I ventured into the public sector. With that training and background, we don’t just make statements without careful analysis of our revenue flow and expenditures, and then analyse how we are going to go about ensuring that we can live up to our promise.”