From ₦400k to ₦60k  —  Mixed reactions trail labour’s agreement with FG

At the end of the six-hour meeting between the Federal Government and labour leaders over the ongoing strike and new minimum wage, both parties have reached an agreement that gets Nigerians talking on social media.

On Monday, June 3, 2024, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) embarked on a nationwide strike to press home their demands for a living wage.

The unions want the government to increase the minimum wage from ₦30,000 to ₦494,000 for workers.

Previous meetings between both parties ended in a deadlock as organised labour rejected the government’s offer to increase the new minimum wage to ₦60,000.

The disagreement led to a nationwide strike that paralysed economic activities in major sectors of the Nigerian economy on Monday.

Shortly after the NLC announced the strike, workers in the aviation, judiciary, health, and other critical sectors joined the industrial action, leaving Nigerians at the mercy of the government and organised labour.

In a bid to resolve the impasse, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, summoned labour leaders to an emergency meeting at his office on Monday evening.

At the end of the meeting, the government promised to raise the new minimum wage above its initial offer of ₦60,000.

In the resolutions read by Akume, the FG said: “The President of Nigeria, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, is committed to establishing a National Minimum Wage higher than ₦60,000; and the Tripartite Committee will convene daily for the next week to finalize an agreeable National Minimum Wage.”

The organised labour also agreed to “immediately hold meetings of its organs to consider this new offer, and no worker would face victimisation as a consequence of participating in the industrial action.”

As things stand, the labour unions may call off the strike if their organs agree with the resolutions reached at the meeting.

Nigerians react

However, Nigerians have been expressing opinions about the resolutions as the conversation trends on Twitter now X with “From ₦400k to ₦60k.”

While many Nigerians believe the unions’ negotiation with the government is a fair deal for workers, others think the unions' agreement with FG is nothing compared to what lawmakers earn.

It is important to note, however, that "From ₦400k to ₦60k" is an obvious misinterpretation of the resolution because a lot of Nigerians commenting on the development tend to think the organised labour has settled for ₦60,000.

Below are some of the reactions from Nigerians on Twitter.