President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Joe Ajaero has revealed that President Tinubu agreed to pay a minimum wage of Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira (#250,000) to the Nigerian workers should the labour leaders agree with the FG to increase petroleum pump price.
Speaking on Thursday during a Channels TV program, Ajaero expressed that labour couldn’t have agreed with the president on such a offer for the interest of Nigerians.
He said, “the president even offered to pay us #250,000 if we could allow him increase the fuel prices”, but considering the effects any pump price increase will have on Nigerians at this time, the union rejected the offer but we accepted Seventy Thousand Naira as the new minimum wage.
When asked if the labour will request the FG consider wages per hour as it’s being done in developed countries, the labour leader said, “sometimes, it may be fashionable to do. May be as we negotiate more, we may discuss that, and it may favour us as Nigerian workers”.
He informed further that labour leaders will meet on Friday to deliberate “on the template and discuss on the states that can start the payment of the new wage immediately “.
Ajaero said that labour might need to do more to ensure state governments comply adequately with the payment. He added that “some states may need to be pushed to make the payment because “we still have some states who couldn’t even pay when the minimum wage was #30,000”.
