NLC, TUC Declare Indefinite Nationwide Strike over Minimum Wage, Electricity Tariff
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) have jointly declared a nationwide strike set to commence from Monday, June 3rd, 2024, over the inability of the tripartite committee to agree on a new minimum wage and the hike in electricity tariff.
The announcement was made by the President of the TUC, Festus Osifo, during a joint news conference with the leadership of the NLC in Abuja on Friday.
Osifo emphasized that the decision to embark on the strike 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 stated.
"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The organised labour had previously withdrawn from the negotiation and rejected two Federal Government offers, the latest being N60,000. They are insisting on N497,000 as the minimum wage.
Following the removal of fuel subsidy and the floating of the naira, the cost of living in Nigeria has soared, heightening calls for a new minimum wage.
In response to these developments, labour leaders have proposed several measures, including a new minimum wage and alternative modes of transportation, to cushion the impact of the subsidy removal.
The government had established a committee comprising labour leaders, government officials, and representatives from the organised private sector to negotiate a new minimum wage.
Despite numerous meetings, the committee failed to reach a consensus, leading to the recent strike action by the labour leaders. The Federal Government is yet to comment on the TUC and NLC’s latest move.