The organised labour has said that it will reject an offer of N100,000 minimum wage if the federal government proposes it as negotiations is set to resume over the wage crisis.
In an interview with Channels Television on Monday, the Assistant General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Chris Onyeka, said the labour will reject the “Starvation wage,” maintaining that labour has arrived at N250,000 as basic living wage for the average Nigerian worker.
Onyeka reiterated that the organised labour never at any point contemplated accepting N100,000.
“Our position is very clear. We have never considered accepting ₦62,000 or any other wage that we know is below what we know can take Nigerian workers home. We will not negotiate a starvation wage.
“We have never contemplated ₦100,000, let alone ₦62,000. We are still at ₦250,000, that is where we are, and that is what we considered enough concession to the government and the other social partners in this particular situation. We are not just driven by frivolities but the realities of the marketplace, realities of things we buy every day: a bag of rice, yam, garri, and all of that,” he said.
Labour had on June 4, suspended its nationwide industrial action for a period of seven days to allow the federal government amend its proposal. The grace period will expire on Tuesday.
Speaking further, Onyeka said that “The Federal Government and the National Assembly have the call now. It is not our call. Our demand is there for them (the government) to look at and send an Executive Bill to the National Assembly, and for the National Assembly to look at what we have demanded, the various facts of the law, and then come up with a National Minimum Act that meets our demands.
“If that does not meet our demand, we have given the Federal Government a one-week notice to look at the issues and that one week expires tomorrow (Tuesday). If after tomorrow, we have not seen any tangible response from the government, the organs of the organised labour will meet to decide on what next.”