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Minimum wage: Labour threatens indefinite strike again

Ezekiel Johnson
Ezekiel Johnson
Minimum wage: Labour threatens indefinite strike again

Nigerian workers have threatened to embark on an indefinite strike following the continued delay in the process of achieving a new minimum wage.

The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and the United Labour Congress, ULC, gave the warning on Sunday at a press conference.

The labour unions said November 6 had been marked as the date for the commencement of the strike in case the Federal Government failed to yield.

The conference was addressed by the NLC President, Ayuba Wabba and ULC President, Joe Ajaero.

The labour unions said contrary to reports, labour agreed to a N30,000 as minimum wage as a compromise to show the willingness of the Nigerian workers to contribute to the development of the nation.

The union said the Federal Government proposed N24,000 while state governments suggested N20,000.

However, an agreement was reached to have N30,000.

The union leaders said in view of the wrong information being pushed out over the discussions at the meeting, it was imperative for the Organised Private Sector (OPS) which was also represented in the tripartite committee to speak on the issue.

 The labour leaders said:  “It is not true that we proposed N30,000 as the new national minimum wage.

“It is also not true that the committee did not agree on a figure during its last sitting. We accepted N30,000 as a compromise to demonstrate the willingness of Nigerian workers to make sacrifices towards nation building.

“Keeping silent in the face of this apparent mischief does our nation no good. At this time the OPS does not have any other choice but to rise to the occasion by telling Nigerians what transpired in the meeting.

“What we are waiting for is for the federal government to immediately set in motion the necessary machinery for turning the agreement into a Bill for onward submission to the NASS where we expect the presidency to work together with the legislators to make it a law so that it can be implemented quickly.

“A day of national outrage and mourning which will be used to sensitise Nigerians on our plight and on the issues at stake. This shall take place in all states of the federation including Abuja on Tuesday, the 30th day of October, 2018.”

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