&w=64&q=75)
President Bola Tinubu has promised Organised Labour that a new executive bill concerning the national minimum wage for workers will be submitted to the National Assembly for approval soon.
Tinubu announced this on Wednesday during his second Democracy Day address on June 12, 2024.
“In this spirit, we have negotiated in good faith and with open arms with Organised Labour on a new national minimum wage.
“We shall soon send an executive bill to the National Assembly to enshrine what has been agreed upon as part of our law for the next five years or less,” the President said.
The Tripartite Committee on the New National Minimum Wage submitted its report to the federal government on Monday, but there is still no consensus on the figures between organised labour and the government.
At the last meeting of the Tripartite Committee on the New Minimum Wage held in Abuja on Friday, labour lowered its demand to N250,000 from N494,000, while the federal government raised its offer from N60,000 to N62,000.
The decision on the new minimum wage might be delayed until July 2, as the National Assembly is currently on holiday.
'We did not oppress or crack down on workers' - Tinubu
In his speech, Tinubu emphasised that despite the challenging negotiations with labour leaders regarding the minimum wage, his government remained democratic and did not suppress the leaders.
“In the face of labour’s call for a national strike, we did not seek to oppress or crack down on the workers as a dictatorial government would have done. We chose the path of cooperation over conflict.
“No one was arrested or threatened. Instead, the labour leadership was invited to break bread and negotiate towards a good-faith resolution.
“Reasoned discussion and principled compromise are hallmarks of democracy. These themes shall continue to animate my policies and interactions with the constituent parts of our political economy,” he said.