New Minimum Wage: FG, Organised Labour Negotiations End In Deadlock

The ongoing negotiations between the Federal Government and organised labour for a new minimum wage have ended in a deadlock.

It will be recalled that President Bola Tinubu had in January set up a tripartite committee consisting of the government, labour and private sector representatives to review the N30,000 minimum wage introduced by the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) submitted a proposal for an N615,000 minimum wage to the Tripartite Committee, but the government has not accepted labour’s demand.

Speaking with The Punch, a top official of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the negotiations ended in a stalemate because the two parties were unable to reach a consensus on the new minimum wage.

He said that while organised labour was insisting on a minimum wage of N615,000, the government and the private sector were proposing between N60,000 and N70,000, resulting in a stalemate in negotiations.

The source, who asserted that he was not authorised to speak on the issue, said, “The government can go as high as N60,000 to N70,000 a month. But anything outside of that, for the government, is impossible.”