Members of the organised labour, on Friday, declared a nationwide indefinite strike over the Federal Government’s refusal to raise the proposed minimum wage from N60,000.
The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero, disclosed this at a press conference in the Labour House, Abuja.
Ajaero said the strike would begin by midnight on Sunday, June 2, 2024.
The NLC leader, who read from a jointly prepared speech alongside his Trade Union Congress counterpart, Festus Osifo, expressed what it described as, “grave concern and disappointment” over the Federal Government’s failure to conclude and pass into law a new National Minimum Wage Act and reverse the hike in electricity tariff to N65/kWh.
Ajaero noted that the Friday meeting between the government and labour further demonstrated the unseriousness and apparent contempt with which the Nigerian state holds the demands of Nigerian workers and people.
“No governor was present and ministers absent except the Minister of State for Labour and Employment who doubles as a conciliator. There was none present on the side of the government with the appropriate authority to commit them to any outcome; in essence, the government abandoned the meeting. We consider this disdainful and shows a lack of commitment to a successful National Minimum Wage negotiation exercise,” he said.
Ajaero noted that during the last May Day celebration on May 1, 2024, organised labour issued an ultimatum to the Federal Government, demanding the conclusion of the minimum wage negotiation by the end of the month.
“However, there has been no significant progress or commitment from the government towards meeting this demand.
“We also demanded a reversal of the last hike in electricity tariff to N225/kwh back to N65/kWh and stoppage of the apartheid categorization of consumers into Bands. We carried out a nationwide one-day protest on the 13th day of May 2024 giving the government until the last day of this month to take action but the government has not entirely shown any positive response despite the national outrage at this insensitive hike.
“Nigerian workers, who are the backbone of our nation’s economy, deserve fair and decent wages that reflect the current economic realities,” Ajaero said.
He further said it was disheartening that despite the repeated calls and the clear ultimatum issued, the government continues to neglect its responsibility to the workforce.
Ajaero also said the government, rather than engage in a dialogue persistently raised its attack dogs to seek to denigrate and intimidate trade union leaders.
