Strike Halts Operations In Fuel, Healthcare, Education, Judiciary, Banking sectors, Others Over Minimum Wage Dispute
Essential services, including fuel distribution, healthcare, banking among others have bren halted as organised labour launches embarks on an indefinite strike over minimum wage and electricity tariff increase.
However the federal government warned the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), to abandon the indefinite strike, citing prematurity and illegality.
Last night, the Senate president, Godswill Akpabio, speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, among others, failed in their effort to stop the proposed strike, after a marathon meeting with NLC president, Joe Ajaero, and his TUC counterpart, Festus Osifo.
However, as part of the mobilization for the strike, the TUC has directed the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions, ASSBIFI, Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, ASCSN, and other senior staff associations to ensure total compliance.
Earlier, NLC affiliates, including the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE, Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, MWUN, National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees, NUBIFIE, and other critical sector unions had written to their members to ensure total compliance.
Recall that the two labour centres had Friday, announced an indefinite nationwide strike from today over the government’s failure to conclude a new national minimum wage and reverse the recent hike in electricity tariff.
NLC and TUC leaders had on Workers Day’s celebrations, given the Federal Government’s May 31 deadline to conclude the negotiations on a new national minimum wage or risk nationwide industrial unrest.
The tripartite committee on a new national minimum wage set up by the government failed to agree on a new national minimum wage after about four meetings.
Labour leaders had walked out of the meetings thrice after rejecting government and the organised private sector’s, OPS, offers.
The last walkout was Friday, which incidentally was the deadline labour gave the government to conclude a new minimum wage as the old minimum wage of N30,000 signed into law by former President Muhammad Buhari on April 18, 2019, expired on April 18, 2024.
Earlier on Friday, May 31, organised labour negotiators had walkout of the meeting for the third time over refusal by the government to make a new offer beyond N60,000.
It was gathered that the negotiations hit a brick wall when the government and the organized private sector, OPS, remained adamant on the N60,000 offers, they made earlier on Tuesday.
Organised labour’s negotiating team had Tuesday, May 28, for the second time in two weeks, walked out of the committee meeting after the federal government increased its offer marginally to N60,000 from the N57,000 it offered on Wednesday, May 22.
The labour negotiating team had on May 15, walked out of the tripartite committee meeting after the government offered N48,000 and the organised private sector, OPS, offered N54,000, against labour’s offer of N615,000.
Meanwhile, more critical unions affiliated with the NLC have joined the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE, Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, MWUN, National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees, NUBIFIE, among others have pledged total compliance.