By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The N48,000 minimum wage proposed by the federal government has been rejected by organised labour, which stormed out of a meeting on Wednesday.
The minimum wage committee, known as the Tripartite Committee on New National Minimum Wage, met today with members of the two key labour unions, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) in attendance.
However, after the federal government said it was willing to increase the minimum wage to N48,000 from N30,000, the unions fumed and stormed out of the gathering.
They expressed displeasure over the attitude of the federal government over the proposed rise in the minimum wage, which the organised labour wants at N615,000 because of inflationary pressures.
The workers had asked to government to agree to their demand on or before May 31, 2024, or risk getting the country shut down.
According to Vanguard, the federal government, through the Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, presented the offer to the labour unions.
“We just told them (the government) that since they are not serious, we better just leave, so we stormed out of the place,” one of the members of the labour unions present at the meeting, Professor Theophilus Ndubuaku, told Vanguard, adding that the government was asked if the money was “for transport, food, clothing, or housing.”