“Labour will reject any little addition to the proposed ₦60,000 minimum wage”, those were the words of the President of the Trade Union Congress, Festus Osifo.
The union had vowed to reject any little addition to the ₦60,000 offer by the tripartite committee on the new minimum wage.
This vow by the Organised Labour had left many Nigerians swimming in the ocean of hope.
Indeed, many Nigerians had suggested that the minimum wage battle between the Federal Government and the Organised Labour is yet another waste of time.
Sadly, these people are pained.
The pain of what they had to endure during the period of the negotiations still lingers, but what is more painful is the fact that the Organised Labour lied to them.
Minimum Wage Strike
Nigerians had wanted the last nationwide strike to last for at least a week, however, just after one day of that protest, the unions folded, and off they went for a meeting with the government.
At this point, Nigerians smelled something fishy.
It was not until the unions signed an agreement with the government that Nigerians knew that something was indeed off.
That was when Nigerians started talking.
To calm the tension, the unions vowed to reject any little addition to the wage.
Little Addition
The President of the Trade Union Congress, Festus Osifo, made this known on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme.
When asked whether labour would accept a few thousand naira additions to the offer, the TUC boss said, “No, we also told them that it’s not that we’d get to the table and you start adding ₦1, ₦2, ₦3,000 as you were doing and we got some good guarantees here and there that they would do something good.”
Also Read: How 70,000 Naira Minimum Wage Will Affect Nigerians
After this statement, Nigerians kept calm as they watch the story unfold.
We cannot begin to imagine the look on the faces of Nigerians when 70,000 Naira was announced.
Many were even more shocked when the NLC said they have accepted that amount.
An addition of 10,000 Naira is certainly not what they had expected.
Now, the social media is boiling as Nigerians cannot help but criticise the unions for disappointing them.
