The Head of the Department of Information for the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Benson Upah, has declared that organized labour is not exactly happy with the new minimum wage of ₦70,000.
He stated that the ₦70,000 declaration is not a victory for labour in the actual sense, given the expensive nature of commodities in the market, but labour leaders had to conclude negotiations to avoid problems.
News360 Info recalls after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu on Thursday, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), accepted the ₦70,000 new minimum wage offer from the federal government.
Following the agreement, Upah, during an interview with Arise News on Friday, said labour is not excited about the figure, and the leaders are sober.
He said, “We are not excited by the 70,000.” He added, “We are sober.”
Upah added that the last may not have been heard about the minimum wage figure as the labour leaders still have to present the figure to the organs and get feedback.
“I do not think what has been offered could be described as victory per se, even as our National leaders are taking what they’ve been told to the appropriate organs this morning for further deliberation or consultation. We are taking this on a note of sombre mood because given the fact of the realities of our economy, 70,000 is not it, it will not be it, and no kind words, no diplomatic language can take the place of the pangs of hunger,” the spokesperson said.
He also added, “Whatever they said at that meeting was not conclusive. Did they sign any document? No. They said we will go and consult our appropriate organs, and I assure you that this morning, there will be a meeting. At the end of the meeting, there will be a public statement.”
Upah, however, commended President Tinubu for his negotiating skills and wisdom in meeting with the labour leaders following the deadlock over the previously proposed ₦62,000 figure.
He added that a formal announcement would be made by labour which would reveal the final stand of the unions on the new minimum wage.
He said, “The discussion deadlocked on 62,000, and here was Mr President saying OK, I’m going to add something. But of course, he was not the first president to do this. I do remember one or two presidents who did a kind of markup. And then, he added 8,000 plus other incentives which, whether you like it or not, are signs of a good negotiator. So, he played the game well. So, that alone was a sufficient reason to say, OK, let us look at what Mr President has offered, we will take this home to our people. If you notice, both the Trade Union Congress (TUC) President and the National Labour Congress (NLC) President said we will take this back home. And I assure you, in the next two or three hours, a meeting will hold, at the end of which a formal statement will be issued.”
The NLC’s Head of Information, however, denied suggestions that the labour leaders sold out after initially demanding N250,000, stating that they put up a vigorous fight.
“First, let me tell you that Labour did not sell out. Labour fought with everything in the bag. Labour did all it could, fought against dissenting governors, fought against an unwilling federal government, fought against a reluctant organised private sector. These are entities you cannot ignore. Labour stood alone, fought these entities. And also, take note that like litigation, there must be an end to negotiation. If there is no end to negotiations, there will be problems,” he said.
