The Organised Labour is scheduled to reconvene discussions with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in another seven days, marking a significant step in finding common ground on ongoing deliberations about a new National Minimum Wage for workers in Nigeria.
The President of the Nigerian Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero and the Leader of the Trade Union Congress TUC, Felix Osifo, made this known to State House Correspondents on Thursday after the closed-door meeting held with the President at the State House Abuja.
According to the NLC President, the meeting held with President Tinubu was not a negotiation summit but a discussion meeting where issues were discussed in real terms with the expectation of reconvening in the next week.
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Speaking on the proposed N62,000 minimum wage proposed by the Nigerian government and the Organised Labour N250,000 demand, Ajaero said “the status quo remains, stressing that until the unions reconvened with the President final positions would be known.
The President of the Trade Union Congress, Festus Osifo told Journalists that the unions tabled current economic indices including the value of naira and increasing prices of commodities and goods in the market.
Osifo said; “In the meeting, we tried to put the issues on the table: the economic difficulties biting Nigerians today, the eroding value of the naira, and how these factors have affected the prices of commodities and goods in the market. We presented these concerns to Mr. President because he is the leader of the country, and the ultimate.
“We had previously discussed these matters with his representatives, but today we wanted to speak directly with the father of the nation. We presented Labour’s arguments, including economic analyses, and covered macro, micro, fiscal, and monetary issues. After presenting everything, the president made his remarks. We agreed to internalize the discussion, hold further conversations, and reconvene at a later time.”
After the meeting, the Minister of Information Mohammed Idris said that deliberations on the new minimum wage for Nigeria are ongoing.
He said that “the meeting is part of the President’s continuous efforts to reach a new minimum wage agreement that works for Nigeria.”
The Minister also mentioned that the organised labour requested one week to consult further with their respective members before reconvening.
Minister of State for Labour and Employment Nkeiruka Onyejeocha described ‘the one hour and thirty minutes meeting as an amiable deliberation between the President and labour leaders.’
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