The President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Festus Osifo, has clarified that the organised labour is not rigidly insisting on a specific amount for the new minimum wage.
This was revealed during his appearance on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, The Morning Brief, on Friday.
Osifo stated that labour is open to negotiations and adjustments, contrary to earlier reports that suggested a fixed demand of N250,000.
The Federal Government representatives and the Organised Private Sector had proposed N62,000, while President Bola Tinubu’s decision on the matter is still pending.
“What we said is that for us when we give figures, there is always room to meander, there is always room for us to do some adjustment here and there,” Osifo explained.
“So, there is no figure that is sacrosanct, there is no figure that is cast in stone that both parties will be fixated on it.”
He further elaborated on the reasons behind the recent industrial action, stating, “One of the reasons that we went on industrial action the last time was because when it got to N60,000, they told us that a kobo cannot even join the N60,000, that they cannot even add one naira to it. So that was one of the reasons that led to that industrial action beyond the fact that there were also delays.”