TheCable

Members of the tripartite committee on national minimum wage are currently meeting to chart a way forward and possibly resolve the controversies over the minimum wage for workers.

The meeting is taking place at the office of the secretary to the government of the federation (SGF) in Abuja.

In attendance are representatives of labour unions, organised private sector and top government officials.

Members of the committee are expected to sign the final report on the minimum wage at the meeting and forward it to the Boss Mustapha, secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), for onward transmission to President Muhammadu Buhari.

The labour unions have vowed to commence indefinite strike by midnight on Monday if the government fails to meet their demands.

While the federal government is maintaining its earlier proposal to pay N24,000 to workers; the governors under the aegis of Nigeria’s Governors Forum (NGF) have proposed to pay N22,500, while labour unions are insisting on N30,000.

Chris Ngige, minister of labour, had disclosed that the federal government had rejected the N22,500 minimum wage proposed by the governors.

“If you make a law and hoax a figure that is not agreeable, which people don’t have the capacity or ability to pay because the International Labour Organisation (ILO) says in those negotiations, the principle is the ability to pay,” the minister had said.

On Sunday, labour leaders were absent at a meeting convened by government.