The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) President, Festus Osifo, has said the much-awaited new minimum wage may not be announced on May 1.
Osifo said this while speaking with newsmen on Friday in Abuja.
“The negotiation by the Tripartite Committee is still on going. If you remember, the TUC earlier submitted N447, 000 as the new minimum wage but we have harmonised our figure with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
“It is now N615,000. Regarding when the new minimum wage would be announced, the committee is still working.
“So, certainly, May 1, will not work for the pronouncement of the new minimum wage. Except if the Federal Government wants to pay the minimum wage of N500, 000 to workers,” he said.
He however said the N615,000 demanded by the organised labour is not sacrosanct.
“The government also has its markup and so conversations and negotiations will start and end somewhere, ‘he said.
He also noted that before organised labour arrived at that amount, a proper study was conducted.
“If you look at the N615. 000, you will think that the amount is right but at about the time we did that computation, a dollar was about N1, 700.
“I am hopeful that the committee will meet after May 1,” he said.
He urged the committee to be diligent and consult widely in arriving at a fair and decent wage that can alleviate the sufferings of the people.
