The Organised Labour on Thursday gave reasons for its acceptance of N70,000 minimum wage offered by the Federal Government to workers.
The Presidents of the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress, Joe Ajaero and Festus Osifo, revealed this.
BAR & BENCH WATCH reports that Organised Labour and the Federal Government agreed on the new minimum wage after a meeting President Bola Tinubu held with the labour leaders at the State House in Abuja on Thursday.
Organised Labour had proposed a new minimum wage of N250,000, while the government and Organised Private Sector offered N62,000.
Addressing State House Correspondents after the meeting with Tinubu, Ajaero said: “What has been announced in terms of the amount of N70,000 happened to be where we are now.
“But the thing about it is that we will not wait for another five years to come on review.
“Rather than settling on a figure that we wait for five years, it is like we’ll have to now negotiate even two times within five years, with a view to going up.
“That is one of the reasons we decided to reach where we are today.
“Because of the proviso that you know, you can review the next three years.
“The other one, we came with other issues in the basket, like the issue of SSANU, NASU and others, especially with the affront by the Commissioner of Police FCT, we brought it to Mr. President, for that matter to be addressed.
“And magnanimously, he asked the agencies concerned to work out the modalities for the payment of those workers in the universities.”
Ajaero also said the government promised other incentives, which will lessen the burden that the Nigerian workers are passing through, “but you can see that we are taking in this well with mix filling because of the situation of the economy.
“But we have to move ahead despite the situation.
“And the negotiation can’t linger, you know.
“Coming from N62,000 to N70,000.
“And then with the proviso that we are coming back soon to negotiate it.
“We’re taking it back to our constituency to see how we can get a buy in.”
On his part, Osifo said: “Yes, just as has been said by the three previous speakers, the Minister of Information, Minister of State for Labour as well as the NLC president, they’ve laid the accounts of what transpired in today’s meeting.
“The President made a pronouncement or announcement of N70,000, that by next week, they should put the finishing touches to the bill and do the transmission to the National Assembly.
“But why this became a catch is actually because we from the organised labour have been pushing that the issue of five years review is to me so much, that a lot of economic indices may have changed because we are in an era where things are moving very fast in terms of both macro and micro economic policies.
“But also with the caveat that this is going to be done every three years.
“The next review will be in three years.
“And after that pronouncement, we from labour, just as has been said, have received what the President has promised from both ends.
“As he said, we made a case for both the SSANU and NASU, that the President should, as a father of the nation, look at it compassionately, and do the needful, so that we will not have a case where the universities would be closed again.
“That is actually a problem because it is your children, my brothers, that attend these universities.
“I’m not sure the kids of the bourgeoisie, like those standing behind us, whether they attend these universities, we don’t know.
“So, at the end, he said he was going to look at it and that they should report back to him as has been reported.
“So we are quite excited with that because for us, anything that will keep the universities shut, we will not allow it to happen.
“We will do everything possible to ensure issues are resolved amicably.
“So, we are waiting for the final outcome of that.
“Then also the issue of student loans as well, we commended the President for that, but we said the money should get to the people that are targeted, not a situation where the children of the rich are also able to access the student loan.
“That a parameter be put in place so that the children of the poor, those that cannot actually afford school fees should be the target and they also said they will look at it as well.”
