By Enyichukwu Enemanna
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and its affiliate union, Trade Union Congress (TUC) have announced the commencement of nationwide strike beginning from Monday, June 3rd, 2024 citing inability to reach an agreement with the federal government on minimum wage as well as hike in electricity tariff.
“In light of this persistent inaction, we, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), hereby issue a notice of commencement of an indefinite nationwide strike to the Federal Government,” President of the TUC Festus Osifo announced at a joint news conference with the leadership of the NLC in Abuja on Friday.
“We reiterate that since the National Minimum Wage negotiation exercise has not been concluded and the agreed wage passed into law; the hike in electricity tariff has not been reversed and the categorization of consumers into Bands has not stopped as demanded; Nigerian workers are compelled by these failures to embark on an indefinite nationwide industrial action beginning on Monday, the 3rd of June, 2024 to press home our demands.”
According to the labour leaders, the decision follows the expiration of an earlier request to the Federal Government to conclude all negotiations for a new minimum wage before the end of May.
“In light of this persistent inaction, we, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), hereby issue a notice of commencement of an indefinite nationwide strike to the Federal Government,” Osifo said.
“We reiterate that since the National Minimum Wage negotiation exercise has not been concluded and the agreed wage passed into law; the hike in electricity tariff has not been reversed and the categorization of consumers into Bands has not stopped as demanded; Nigerian workers are compelled by these failures to embark on an indefinite nationwide industrial action beginning on Monday, the 3rd of June, 2024 to press home our demands.”
The organised labour had once pulled out of the negotiation and rejected two Federal Government offers, the latest being N60,000. They are insisting on N497,000 as minimum wage.
Since the removal of fuel subsidy and the floating of the naira, the cost of living in Nigeria has reached new highs, heightening calls for a new minimum wage.
In the wake of the development, labour leaders have reeled out several measures including a new minimum wage, alternative modes of transportation, and others to cushion the impact of the subsidy removal.
