(JUST IN) Minimum Wage: Again, FG, Labour Adjourn Meeting

Organised Labour and the Federal Government again failed to conclude negotiation over consequential adjustment in workers’ salaries as a result of the new minimum wage of N30,000 despite meeting for about nine hours as labour said that there was no declaration of strike yet.

The meeting began after 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday and ended at 2:00 a.m. on Thursday.

At the end of the meeting, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, who presided over the meeting, told journalists that specific jobs had been given to some committees that must be submitted before the negotiation could be deemed completed.

He said the meeting would reconvene 7:00 p.m. on Thursday.

Ngige said, “We have agreed on areas hitherto we could not agree on. We are adjourning the meeting. We are giving assignment to people on both sides and they are going to do the work and get back to us.

President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Ayuba Wabba, who was also part of the meeting, said that Nigerians would be given details of the negotiation and concessions made after the rescheduled meeting. He also described as speculation the report that both parties had settled for certain percentage increase in consequential adjustment.

Asked if the strike would begin since the ultimatum issued to the Federal Government elapsed at the close of work on Wednesday, Wabba said since negotiation was still on, it was not in labour practice to disrupt it with such action.

Wabba said the major issues remaining in the negotiation were percentage increase and implementation by the government.

Wednesday’s meeting was indeed an enlarged one on the side of labour, with the president of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Ayuba Wabba, president of the Trade Union Congress, Quadri Olaleye, former TUC President, Bobboi Kaigama, and heads of affiliate workers unions present.

NAN