President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has invited leaders of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) to a meeting regarding the national minimum wage. The meeting is set for Thursday, July 11, 2024, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
A source within the labour leadership, who wished to remain anonymous, disclosed the news on Wednesday.
The meeting aims to address the differing proposals on the new minimum wage: the government and private sector’s ₦62,000 proposal and the Organised Labour’s demand for ₦250,000.
This meeting comes nearly a month after President Tinubu, in his Democracy Day speech on June 12, 2024, announced plans to send an executive bill on the new national minimum wage to the National Assembly.
On June 25, the Federal Executive Council (FEC), chaired by Tinubu, deferred consideration of the new minimum wage memo to allow for further stakeholder engagement. Following this, on June 27, Tinubu and Vice President Kassim Shettima discussed the issue with state governors and ministers at the 141st National Economic Council (NEC) meeting.
The negotiations for a new minimum wage have been ongoing since the expiration of the Minimum Wage Act of 2019 in April 2024. The Act, which set the minimum wage at ₦30,000, mandates a review every five years to reflect current economic conditions.
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In January, President Tinubu established a Tripartite Committee to negotiate the new minimum wage, involving Organised Labour, federal and state government representatives, and the Organised Private Sector. Despite these efforts, the committee was unable to reach an agreement, leading to an indefinite strike by labour on June 3, 2024.
The strike, which disrupted operations at airports, hospitals, the national grid, banks, and legislative complexes, was temporarily suspended on June 4, 2024, after assurances from the President that a wage exceeding ₦60,000 was under consideration.
The upcoming meeting is a critical step in resolving the wage dispute and ensuring fair compensation for Nigerian workers.