President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero and President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Festus Osifo have given reasons why labour unions accepted N70,000 minimum wage from President Bola Tinubu.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports both Ajaero and Osifo gave the reasons on Thursday after meeting with President Tinubu and approval was given by the President for the payment of N70,000 as minimum wage in the country.
Ajaero, who spoke to State House reporters after the meeting with the President, said the unions agreed to the offer because the President promised a review of minimum every three years.
“The amount of N70,000 happened to be where we are now. But the good thing about it is that we will not wait for another five years to come for a review rather than accepting a figure and you wait for five years. It is like you will now have to negotiate even two times within five years with a view for an upward review,” the NLC president said.
Speaking in the same vein, Osifo disclosed that President Tinubu will transmit the new figure in a bill to the National Assembly (NASS) to pass the new minimum wage into law.
“The President made a pronouncement of N70,000 that by next week he would be putting in finishing touches and do the transmission to the National Assembly.
“Why this became a catch is because we from organised labour, we have been pushing that the issue of five years review is too much with the caveat that this should be done every three years. The next review would be three years.
“After that pronouncement, we from labour, we have received what the president has promised from both end,” the TUC president said.
TNG reports the new minimum wage when approved by the National Assembly will replace the N30,000 minimum wage, which expired on April 18, 2024.