Minimum Wage: “Meeting not about negotiation, just discussions”_ Ajero, Osifo

Joe Ajaero, president of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), and Festus Osifo, president of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), on Thursday, led other labour leaders to a meeting with President Bola Tinubu.

The labour leaders, who arrived at the Presidential Villa at about 2pm, were ushered into the meeting by Femi Gbajabiamila, Chief of Staff to the President.

Both labour leaders said after the meeting with President Bola Tinubu that they are yet to reach a compromise with the federal government on the Minimum Wage.

Festus Osifo, President of the Trade Union Congress TUC, while speaking with the State House Journalists after the meeting , disclosed that they did not discuss “ naira and Kobo” during their meeting with the President.

“The meeting was not about negotiation. We just had discussions and we did not discuss naira and kobo, but the meeting continues in a week’s time”.

He disclosed however, that the labour team stated that they had put the issues of naira devaluation and the economic difficulties faced by the workers on the table before the President.

Joe Ajaero, in his remarks, stated that “ in real terms, it wasn’t a negotiation, it was a discussion.

We had all the conversations with his team. No, we made it. By one week time. We didn’t go into naira and kobo. “The status remain. We recommended N250,000 and the federal government said N62,000. That is where we are as at now”

Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, Minister of State for Labour and Employment, however, described the meeting as a” father and children discussion”

“We had a very good meeting and I think we are hopeful that very soon everything will be resolved. She, however, described the meeting as that of a “father and his children”.

The meeting is sequel to an earlier announcement by the President that he would hold wide consultations before taking a stand on the ongoing debate over the minimum wage.

Recall that the 37-man Tripartite Committee on Minimum Wage failed to broker an agreement between the federal government and the organised labour which led to the presentation of different figures by the government and labour on the minimum wage.

Labour however appealed to the President to give workers a ” living wage”, citing the current economic challenges faced by the workers.