THERE was no agreement in the dialogue on Thursday, July 11 between President Bola Tinubu and the Organised Labour, led by Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President, Joe Ajaero, and his Trade Union Congress (TUC) counterpart, Festus Osifo, at the State House, on a new minimum wage, as the talks was adjourned until next week to allow for wider consultation with all stakeholders.
The Tripartite Committee on the new national minimum wage submitted two figures to the President, with the Organised Private Sector (OPS) and government team offering N62,000, while the Organised Labour demanded N250,000.
The disagreement has delayed the President from sending any figure to the National Assembly, through an Executive Bill, for enactment into law.
Addressing State House Correspondents after the meeting, Ajaero said there were no negotiations at the one-hour meeting, but rather a discussion on the current economic realities in the country.
He stated: “In a real sense, it wasn’t a negotiation, but a discussion, and we have had that discussion. We agreed to look at the real terms, probably and reconvene in the next one week.
“That’s where we are, because we didn’t go down there to talk naira and kobo. At least, there were some basic issues that we agreed on.”
On what figure Labour’s demanded as minimum wage, Ajaero said: “I remember mentioning that we didn’t go into naira and kobo discussion. Now, the status quo, in terms of the amount N250,000 and N62,000, remains until we finish this conversation.”
Osifo added that the Labour put all the economic indices on the table and how it was biting on Nigerians, noting: “In the meeting, we tried to put the issues on the table. Issues that are bordering and biting Nigerians today, the economic difficulties and the value of naira, how it has also eroded, how these have affected the prices of commodities and goods in the market.
“We tried to put these before Mr. President, because he is the President of the country and the bulk stops at his table.
“We have had all the conversations with all his agents, but today (Thursday), we said let us meet with the father of the country and have this conversation and make the argument that Labour always makes.
“We made all the arguments, the economic analysis, macro, micro, fiscal and monetary issues. We put everything forward and at the end, the President made his remark as the President and we all agreed to go back to internalise it, have some conversations and by one week’s time, we will come back and we will continue the meeting.”
Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, told journalists afterwards: “It was a fruitful meeting; father, children meeting. I think we are hopeful that very soon, everything will be resolved.
“Of course, when father and children talk, you know what it is. “That’s just exactly what has happened. It took us almost about an hour. I believe that it’s all for good.”
Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, expressed optimistic of a positive result after next week’s meeting.
He stated: “Recall that already, there is N62,000 that has been put out there from the government side, but the Organised Labour is still not accepting that. But we know that they will come to the table, we know that this is something that is going to be workable for Nigerians.
“The Organised Labour and government will reach an agreement. We have adjourned now for a week. The labour union has asked the government to allow them at least a week to discuss further, and we have allowed them.
“We’re going to reconvene in the next one week and we hope and we believe by the end of the day, we’ll have something that is good for all Nigerians. We do hope that by the time we come together again next week, we’ll have something that we can put out for Nigerians to see and to agree with.”
