President Bola Tinubu on Thursday held consultations with organised labour in furtherance of his engagements with critical stakeholders toward arriving at a new national minimum wage.
Minister of State, Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents at the end of the meeting on Thursday in Abuja.
Onyejeocha said: “The meeting was a conversation between a father and his children and not a negotiation on the new national minimum wage.”
Also speaking, the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, said there was no discussion in terms of what the new national minimum wage would be, and that the status quo remained.
“We didn’t discuss figures.
“The status quo remains, the Federal Government stands on ₦62,000 while labour is sticking to ₦250,000.
“We will be back after one week to continue the discussion,” Ajaero said.
President-General of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), Festus Osifo, also said labour presented the issues bothering Nigerians to the President as part of his consultations toward arriving at a new minimum wage.
Osifo said the meeting was an opportunity for labour to let the President know how the economic difficulties and the value of the Naira have affected the prices of goods in the market.
“We are all aware of what is happening in the country, how the high cost of living has impacted the ordinary Nigerians and workers.
“So, it was necessary to let the President know the exact situation of things in the country,” Osifo said.