NLC, TUC to meet, may resume strike – Official

The organised labour said it would reconvene to decide on the resumption of the suspended strike if the federal government and National Assembly fail to meet its demand on the proposed minimum wage by midnight on Tuesday.

The Assistant General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Chris Onyeka, disclosed this when he appeared on Channels Television’s ‘The Morning Brief’ show on Monday.

Nigerian workers under the auspices of the NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) suspended their strike for one week in order to resume negotiations with the government on the minimum wage.

The one-week ultimatum given by labour to the federal government will expire at midnight on Tuesday.

During the last meeting held by the Tripartite Committee on New Minimum Wage on Friday in Abuja, labour reduced its demand to N250,000 from N494,000 while the federal government increased its offer from N60,000 to N62,000.

The government’s representatives said they would present the figure to President Bola Tinubu for further action.

Mr Onyeka said the strike may resume if the leadership of the organised labour decides it would be the best option after the new government proposal of N62,000.

“The federal government and the National Assembly have the call now. Our demand is clear: the government must review it, send an Executive Bill to the National Assembly, and enact a National Minimum Wage Act that meets our expectations.

“If our demand is not met, the one-week notice we issued will expire tomorrow. If we do not receive a tangible response by then, the organs of organised labour will meet to decide our next steps,” he said.

The NLC official re-emphasised Labour’s stance against accepting what it terms “starvation wages” such as N62,000 or N100,000.

He insisted that N250,000 remains Labour’s demand.

“We have never considered accepting N62,000 or any wage below a liveable standard. We will not negotiate a starvation wage. Our demand stands at N250,000, which we believe is a reasonable concession considering the current economic realities and the cost of essential goods,” he said.

Ongoing negotiations

PREMIUM TIMES reported that the negotiations between the organised labour and the tripartite committee failed because of the government’s proposal of N62,000 on Friday.

President Tinubu had directed the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, to present a new minimum wage template after the nationwide strike was halted.

Before this directive, the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) had described the labour demands as unaffordable and unsustainable.

However, organised labour met the federal government team after Mr Edun presented the proposed minimum wage to President Tinubu to reduce their demand from N494,000 to N250,000, while the government increased its proposal slightly from N60,000 to N62,000.

After the meeting failed to come to a consensus, both submitted their reports to the president, who is expected to make a decision and send an executive bill to the National Assembly to pass a new minimum wage law.

Background

The organised labour had declared a nationwide strike following the tripartite committee’s failure to agree on a minimum wage by the deadline of 31 May.

TUC President, Festus Osifo, announced the strike during a joint press conference with the NLC.

He noted that the decision followed the federal government missing the deadline to finalise negotiations regarding a new minimum wage by the end of May.

In addition, unions are protesting recent hikes in electricity tariffs, which they argue place an undue burden on workers and consumers across the country.

“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,” Mr 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 tariffs has not been reversed and the categorisation 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, 3 June 2024 to press home our demands,” he added.