The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has instructed workers to stay at home as the nationwide strike begins today, June 3. This announcement was made via a post on the NLC’s X handle this morning.
The decision to continue the strike follows a deadlock in the meeting between the Organized Labour, the Federal Government, and National Assembly leaders over demands for a new national minimum wage and the reversal of the recent electricity tariff hike.
Labour unions argue that the current minimum wage of ₦30,000 is insufficient to meet the needs of the average Nigerian worker. They also noted that not all governors are paying the current wage, which expired in April 2024, five years after the Minimum Wage Act of 2019 was signed by former President Muhammadu Buhari. This Act requires a review every five years to address contemporary economic demands.
The Labour union had set a deadline of May 31 for the government to implement a new minimum wage. When the deadline passed without resolution, the union declared a nationwide strike starting Monday, June 3, 2024, due to the government’s inability to agree on the new minimum wage and reverse the electricity tariff hike.
During the failed talks with the government, Labour rejected three government’s offers, the latest being N60,000. Both the TUC and the NLC subsequently pulled out of negotiations, insisting on ₦497,000 as the new minimum wage.
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