Why We Agreed On N615,000 As New Minimum Wage For Workers – TUC, NLC

The president of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Festus Osifo, has shed light on the reason behind the proposed N615,000 new minimum wage.

Speaking to journalists in Abuja on Friday, Osifo said the N615,000 new minimum wage agreed on by the TUC and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) was reached based on N1,700 per dollar computation.

The TUC President emphasized that the anticipated announcement of the new minimum wage on May 1 might not materialize as negotiations are still ongoing.

He said, “The negotiation by the Tripartite Committee is still ongoing. If you remember, the TUC earlier submitted N447,000 as the new minimum wage but we have harmonised our figure with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).

“It is now N615,000. Regarding when the new minimum wage, the committee is still working.

“So, certainly, May 1 will not work for the pronouncement of the new minimum wage except if the federal government wants to pay the minimum wage of N500,000 to workers.”

Osifo clarified that the figure is not sacrosanct and acknowledged that the government has its own considerations.

“The government also has its markup, so conversations and negotiations will start and end somewhere,” the TUC leader said.

He highlighted the thoroughness of the process, explaining that a comprehensive study was conducted before arriving at the proposed amount.

“If you look at the N615,000, you will think that the amount is right, but at about the time we did that computation, a dollar was about N1,700. I am hopeful that the committee will meet after May 1,” he said.

The federal government had established a 37-member tripartite committee chaired by Bukar Aji to continue further negotiations and consultations on the new minimum wage.

Meanwhile, Lagos State Government has refuted reports suggesting that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu increased the minimum wage in the state to N70,000.