The organized labour has announced it will reconvene to decide on resuming the suspended strike if the federal government and National Assembly fail to meet its minimum wage demand by midnight on Tuesday. Chris Onyeka, Assistant General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), revealed this on Channels Television’s ‘The Morning Brief’ show on Monday.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Nigerian workers, under the NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), had suspended their strike for one week to resume negotiations with the government on the minimum wage. This ultimatum expires at midnight on Tuesday.
During the last meeting of the Tripartite Committee on New Minimum Wage on Friday in Abuja, labour reduced its demand from N494,000 to N250,000, while the federal government increased its offer from N60,000 to N62,000. Government representatives stated they would present the new figure to President Bola Tinubu for further action.
Onyeka warned that the strike might resume if the organised labour’s leadership deems it necessary after considering the government’s new proposal of N62,000. He emphasized the need for a minimum wage act that meets labour’s expectations, rejecting “starvation wages” like N62,000 or N100,000, and standing firm on the N250,000 demand.
The negotiations between the organised labour and the tripartite committee failed due to the government’s proposal of N62,000. President Tinubu had directed the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, to present a new minimum wage template following the halted nationwide strike. Despite the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) calling the labour demands unaffordable and unsustainable, labour reduced its demand to N250,000.
Background:
The organised labour had declared a nationwide strike after the tripartite committee failed to agree on a minimum wage by the May 31 deadline. TUC President Festus Osifo announced the strike, citing missed deadlines, recent electricity tariff hikes, and unresolved minimum wage negotiations as reasons for the industrial action, which was set to begin on June 3, 2024.
