Labour to FG: Let's Reach Agreement Before Transmitting Minimum Wage Bill

The Organised Labour has urged the Federal Government led by President Bola Tinubu to consider negotiation with its leadership before transmitting the proposed bill on the new minimum wage to the National Assembly.

The union admitted that the meeting with the National Executive Committee was being stalled by Tinubu’s delay in forwarding the bill.

In his Democracy Day broadcast last Wednesday, the President had announced that a consensus had been reached between the Federal Government and Labour on the new minimum wage, a claim both the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress debunked.

One of the key leaders of the congress, who pleaded anonymity, expressed disappointment over the development of the minimum wage approval 

He said, “As things stand, we cannot really do anything until we are aware of what they are trying to do. The delay in sending the bill to the National Assembly is even the reason we have yet to call for our NEC meeting. 

"The President is supposed to decide on the impasse and then forward the bill to them. They need to come up with an official statement before we can decide on what to tell our people.

“If he (Tinubu) takes a decision single-handed, you know it can’t be the same as the decision of the National Assembly. He needs to send the bill so the lawmakers can amend whatever he is sending and call for a public hearing. So we are waiting for him to make his move.

“But if he is wise as we believe, he will not make that move without consulting us directly before even sending the bill. If he sends the bill based on the position of his government, it means he has taken sides. The wiser thing is for him to intervene since there is a stalemate with the people he sent to negotiate with us."

But the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, insisted last week that the N250,000 wage being demanded by the workers’ union was unsustainable, warning that the Federal Government could not channel all its resources to meet such a demand.