Organised labour has lowered its demand for N1m minimum wage for workers in the country.
The tripartite group on the minimum wage is scheduled to convene again on Monday and Tuesday.
The purpose of the conference is to facilitate better discussions between all parties engaged in the negotiating process so that, when the present N30,000 minimum pay expires on April 1st, the new minimum salary can be announced on or before that day.
Remember that the National Minimum Wage Act was amended by the House of Representatives in May 2017 to require an annual assessment of workers’ compensation.
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Former President Muhammadu Buhari’s signature on the Minimum Wage Act of 2019 gives the committee the authority to convene and come up with an agreed wage, which will be eventually ratified by the National Assembly after due legislative scrutiny.
Additionally, Buhari approved N30,000 for federal and state employees in the same year by signing the Minimum Wage Act.
A 37-member panel on the new minimum wage was launched on January 30, 2024, in the Council Chamber of the State House in Abuja by Chief Bola Tinubu and his deputy, Kashim Shettima.
The panel, which includes representatives from organised labour, the private sector, and the federal and state governments, is tasked with recommending a new minimum wage for the nation.
The existing N30,000 minimum wage expires at the end of next month, thus Shettima encouraged members to “speedily” arrive at a resolution and submit a report early in his inaugural remarks at the inauguration.
“The timely submission (of the report) is crucial to ensure the emergence of a new minimum wage,” Shettima said.
Remember that on May 29, 2023, Tinubu stated that gasoline subsidies would no longer be provided. This announcement led to a significant increase in the overall cost of living.
To lessen the effects of the loss of the subsidies, the administration granted an additional N35,000 pay award for a six-month period beginning in September 2023. However, organised labour insisted that this was only a temporary fix and demanded a thorough review of the minimum wage.
The panel’s chairman, Bukar Aji, a former head of the Federation’s civil service, promised at the panel’s inauguration that its members would develop a minimum wage that is “fair, practical, implementable, and sustainable.”
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The committee’s formation comes after months of protests from organised labour, which voiced dissatisfaction over the Federal Government’s inability to hold the October negotiations-originated meeting of the new national minimum wage committee.
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