Minimum wage: Trade Union Congress knocks unserious FG, threatens strike

The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has condemned what it described as the federal government’s nonchalant attitude over deliberations about a new minimum wage, threatening to strike if the issue is not resolved.

“The government must be very serious in addressing the issue of a new minimum wage,” the president of the TUC Festus Osifo said last night on Channels Television.

For months, labour unions and the federal government have been locked in negotiations over a new minimum wage with the former giving an ultimatum of May 31.

Labour had initially demanded a ₦615,000 minimum wage but reduced it twice – now at ₦494,000. The government and the organised private sector had initially proposed ₦48,000 and ₦54,000 which were also rejected by the labour.

‘We Completely Reject It’

During a meeting of the committee on minimum wage on Tuesday, labour rejected the Federal Government’s new minimum wage proposal.

According to Osifo, the new proposal does not tally with the nation’s economic realities. He said with Nigeria’s inflation rate of 33.69% as of April 2024 based on data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), labour had to “completely reject” the federal government’s latest offer of ₦60,000.

“So, for us, we completely reject it. We want the government to be serious. Let them come and give us a breakdown of how a family is going to live with the minimum wage of ₦60,000,” he said.

“Remember, our ultimatum still subsists that we have issued on May 1st and today is the 28th day of May. So, what that clearly means is that we still have three days to resolve this matter.”

Since its inception, President Bola Tinubu has introduced a slew of reforms including the removal of fuel subsidy and the floating of the naira.

But Osifo has accused the Tinubu government of policy somersaults and not having “deep thinking”.

“So, for us, we would rate them 2.5 out of 10 which is 25%,” the TUC chief argued.