Tripartite Committee On Minimum Wage To Reconvene Next Week Tuesday

The Tripartite Committee on Minimum Wage will reconvene on Tuesday, May 23 to further negotiate a reasonable new minimum wage for workers, after the organised labour walked out of the negotiation on May 15.

An invitation letter sent to the labour leaders by the chairman of the committee, Bukar Goni, states that the other members of the committee have agreed to shift grounds from the N48,000 proposal which was made on Wednesday.

The letter appealed to the labour leaders to speak to their members and attend the reconvened meeting next Tuesday.

The organised labour comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have proposed a new minimum wage of N615,000, which is way higher than the N48,000 proposal by the government.

The organised private sector, on the other hand, proposed an initial offer of N54,000. After dumping the talks, the labour leaders addressed a press conference where they expressed their anger over the Federal Government’s offer.

Earlier, the NLC President, Joe Ajaero, insisted on N615,000 minimum wage, arguing that the amount was arrived at after an analysis of the current economic situation and the needs of an average Nigerian family of six.

He blamed the government and the private sector for the breakdown in negotiation.