The tripartite committee on new minimum wage has adjourned till next Tuesday, May 28 to continue deliberation after Wednesday’s meeting in Abuja ended in a deadlock again.
The Federal Government, the organised private sector and the organised labour failed to reach a consensus on the new minimum wage at the Wednesday meeting.
Sources at the meeting told The PUNCH that the government initially stood its ground on the N54,000 it proposed on Tuesday, citing paucity of funds.
However, the government was forced to propose the sum of N57,000 after the committee took a 30-minute break to make further deliberations.
The highly informed sources noted that at the end of the break, both the government and the OPS proposed the sum of N57,000 as minimum wage.
The sum was, however, rejected by labour.
“The final proposal from labour was N497,000 and that was after the government and the private sector proposed N57,000.
“Initially, the government refused to shift grounds on the N54,000 it proposed earlier, noting that it didn’t have enough funds to pay. However, we took a 30-minute break to make further deliberations.
“We as Labour reject the proposed N57,000 and the meeting has been adjourned till Tuesday next week.
“Governors Obaseki and Uzodinma were present while Governor Soludo joined us via Zoom. The government needs to be serious as regards these negotiations.”
Also speaking to The PUNCH, a senior official of Nigeria Labour Congress said, “The outcome of the negotiation of the National Minimum Wage Committee with the Federal Government is not encouraging. The Federal Government increased it from N54,000 to N57,000, and the organised labour moved from N615,000 to N500,000, and then to N497,000 and the meeting has been adjourned to next week Tuesday.”
