The Minister of Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, has appealed to the Organised Labour to shelve its ongoing industrial action which has crippled economic activities in the country.
Onyejeocha said the Federal Government is not the sole decider of a new minimum wage as it must be determined by state governments and the Organised Private Sector.
Speaking on a live television programme, the Minister said some state governments still can’t pay the ₦30,000 minimum wage agreed by the tripartite committee in 2019 let alone the ₦494,000 wage demand by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC).
Remember that when ₦18,000 minimum wage was agreed upon, certain states couldn’t pay. After that, ₦30,000 minimum wage, some states couldn’t pay as we speak. So, it’s not something you decide for people… the Federal Government does not have that power to impose,” she said.
Onyejeocha said “the ₦494,000 is highly impossible” as the new minimum wage of the country, fearing that many businesses won’t be able to cope with the payment of such a wage and that it would lead to massive job losses.
The minister said the economic loss of the strike in the last 24 hours have been huge as businesses, airports, universities, hospitals and power supply were affected.
She said with the “hardship” inflicted on Nigerians in the last 24 hours since the strike commenced, labour should rescind its decision, suspend the strike and come back to the negotiation table to arrive at a realistic wage for workers in the country.
She argued that beyond the agreement on a new living wage, the place of sustainability in payment by all members of the tripartite committee must be considered.
The labour minister appealed to the aggrieved unions to consider the ₦60,000 offer by the government and the Organised Private Sector, saying the ₦494,000 demand by the Organised Labour would push up Nigeria’s inflation beyond the current 33.69%
Minimum Wage: ₦494,000 Highly Impossible — Labour Minister
