May 16, 2024

The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has rejected the N48,000 proposed by the Federal Government as the new minimum wage, saying it does not make any sense.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday, the TUC President, Festus Osifo, condemned the proposal and berated the government for not being serious in its negotiation with the workers.

According to Osifo, the least federal workers are already earning up to N77,000 and proposing N48,000 at the moment is “abysmal”.

“Before President Muhammadu Buhari left office, the last person in the federal ministry was actually earning N42,000.

“If you now factor in the wage award of N35,000 that was given, N42,000 plus N35,000 will give us N77,000, so as of today what the least federal government worker earns is N77,000.

“So, the question that we now ask is that if the least federal government worker is earning N77,000, why are you now coming to present N48,000? It does not just make any sense,” Osifo said.

The TUC leader challenged the Federal Government to come forward with data backing the N48,000 proposal and convince the union members on how that amount can take the average Nigerian worker home.

Earlier on Wednesday, the labour unions walked out of the ongoing minimum wage negotiations with the government and the Organised Private Sector following what the union leaders described as a ridiculous offer by the government.

Osifo said that at the meeting, the labour unions proposed a N615,000 minimum wage which they gave a breakdown of how it was arrived at. He said that the government on its part presented N48,000 with no breakdown of how it can cater for the needs of the Nigerian workers.

Failure to back the N48,000 proposal up with data shows unpreparedness on the part of the government which was why the union leaders walked out of the meeting, according to Osifo.

He said that the union members still maintain that all conversations around a new national minimum wage must be concluded by the end of May.