What labour minister told us on minimum wage review – TUC President

President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Festus Osifo, has revealed the outcome of the Tuesday meeting between the union and federal government’s representatives.

The union had given the government a two-week ultimatum to address workers’ issues or risk industrial action from workers whom he said were getting more impatient because of the hardship occasioned by the removal of fuel subsidy.

During an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today, Osifo said the Minister of Labour, Simon Bako Lalong, told them he had met with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun. He said Lalong told the union that the issue of wage had been reviewed

He said, “The minister of labour told us that he had an audience with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the minister of finance and had reviewed the issue of wage award. But the president asked them to fine-tune the issues before he makes the announcement.”

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Osifo added that the union had engaged the federal government on the palliatives released to states.

He said, “We are going to monitor distribution of palliatives in states to make sure the scheme is implemented appropriately. We want to see the template of the implementation that is why we engaged the federal government on this issue. We also raised issues around taxation and CNG (Compressed Natural Gas).

“The minister told us all these issues would be streamlined but because the president has travelled we should give him an extra two weeks. We said no. We don’t have an extra two weeks to give. After more discussions, he said the president would make proper announcement next week.”