Minimum wage: FG, Labour meet Monday

The Technical Committee on Minimum Wage, comprising the representative of Federal Government led by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), and the organised labour will meet Monday.

The meeting becomes very necessary, even as the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Senator Chris Ngige, formally revealed that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have jointly demanded N56,000 national minimum wage.

The meeting, which will commence at 2.00pm will be held at the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), Abuja. The minister said the date of the meeting had been communicated to both the government; and the NLC and the TUC.

Senator Ngige said: “The Federal Government, is not “deliberately stalling the process of constituting a tripartite committee which is expected to deliberate on the proposed N56,000 minimum wage as demanded by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), last year.”

Rather, the minister said: “The Federal Government has demonstrated its commitment to improving the welfare of the Nigerian workforce by holding series of meetings with stakeholders on the subject matter, while the final meeting of the technical committee on new minimum wage was slated for February 23, 2017, but could not hold as scheduled, as both the Nigerian Labour Congress and its Trade Union Congress counterpart requested for a postponement of the meeting, in order to attend the delegate conference of National Union of Civil Engineering Construction/ Furniture and Wood Workers (NUCECFWW), at Asaba Delta State.

“In demonstration of the Federal Government’s commitment, a new date for the meeting of the technical committee on minimum wage has been scheduled for Tuesday, March 14, 2017 by 2:00pm at the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), and has been communicated to both the Government and workers representatives of the technical committee.”