Minimum wage: Why Labour, private sector operators disagreed
*Organized Labour’s N497,000 demand unrealistic — Presidency *Adds affordability key to arriving at any figure PRESIDENT of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Mr. Joe Ajaero, and Managing Director of Financial Derivatives Company, Mr. Bismarck Rewane, at this year’s annual Vanguard Economic Discourse, traded words over Organised Labour’s N615,000 minimum wage demand which has been reduced to N497,000. While Mr Rewane contended that the minimum wage being demanded by Labour was not feasible, Ajaero insisted that the demand is in line with the socio-economic realities of Nigeria at the moment. This came as the Presidency yesterday said the N497,000 demand by Labour as new minimum wage was unrealistic and advised labour to be serious in its demand. Speaking in his opening remarks at the summit, Ajaero, who was a panelist at the discourse, posited that the prices of most essential items and other services from transportation, electricity to food had skyrocketed. He said: “From all that...