NLC And TUC Dismiss Fresh FG’s ₦60,000 Minimum Wage Offer, Adjust Demand To ₦494,000

Nigerian labor unions again rejected Federal Government’s latest minimum wage proposal of ₦60,000 per month.

Instead, the unions comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), on Tuesday May 27, adjusted their demand to ₦494,000 down from ₦497,000 they stuck to last week.

Previously, the government and the Organized Private Sector (OPS) – the two main employers of labor in Nigeria, reviewed their offers from ₦48,000, ₦54,000, ₦57,000, and now to ₦60,000 per month. The unions must have found the offers laughable!

Initially, the unions asked for ₦615,000 as the new minimum wage but reduced it to ₦497,000 last week and then to ₦494,000 today.

Today’s meeting ended without an agreement on a new minimum wage, leaving the Tripartite Committee at an impasse just three days before the May 31 deadline set by the labor unions for the government to conclude negotiations.

Minimum vs Living Wage?

The labor unions argue that the current minimum wage of ₦30,000 is insufficient for the average Nigerian worker’s well-being. They lamented that not all governors are paying the current wage, which expired in April 2024, five years after former President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Minimum Wage Act of 2019. The Act mandates a review every five years to meet contemporary economic demands.

NLC President Joe Ajaero criticized the government’s latest proposals as inadequate. “It is still not substantial compared to what we need to sustain a family,” he said, referring to the current ₦30,000 wage paid to workers.

“The workers’ economy is completely destroyed. In fact, the workers don’t have an economy. The country seems to have two economies: one for the bourgeoisie and one for the workers. We need to harmonize these to find common ground,” Ajaero stated.

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