President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, on Thursday, said both federal and states were owing workers two months since the last minimum wage expired.
Ajaero who was a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today, said the last minimum wage elapsed by April 18.
“The last minimum wage expired by April 18th. They started owing by April, then May, June. We don’t have the luxury of time,” he said.
“We equally have to be meticulous, patient which is what we are doing now to make sure that we pass through the whole process. We believe that this is the last level where we are now in consulting with Mr President as the father of the nation.”
N250,000 Demand
When asked if the labour unions will give President Bola Tinubu till the end of July to meet the union’s demand of N250,000, Ajaero didn’t stipulate a timeframe.
He said the unions will meet next week and present their discussions to their respective organs before knowing the next step.
On June 3, the NLC and TUC embarked on a nationwide strike over the failure of the Federal Government to agree to their demand for the minimum wage.
The labour bodies proposed N494,000 as the new minimum wage, citing inflation and the prevailing economic hardship in the country while rejecting the federal government’s N60,000 offer.
On June 7, the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) said a N60,000 minimum wage would prove unsustainable.
At the last meeting of the tripartite committee set up to negotiate the minimum wage, labour rejected the N62,000 proposed by the government and lowered its demand to N250,000.