Labour unions begin strike as meeting with FG, NASS deadlocked

The industrial action called by the organised labour leaders commences at 01.00 hours Monday morning following the stalemate in the meeting called by the federal lawmakers and the executive branch to prevail on the workers’ unions to shelve the indefinite strike.

Organised labour had made some demands on the federal government including an N494,000 salary given the current economic realities in the country, reversal of the hike in electricity tariff without consulting the stakeholders as required by law to N225/kwh to N66/Kwh and the alleged apartheid categorisation of Nigerian electricity into bands.

The federal government offered N60,000 minimum wage which the workers’ unions considered insufficient given the inflation in Nigeria which peaked at 33.69 per cent in April 2024.

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However, at the meeting initiated on Sunday night by the government comprising the executive and the legislature, NationalDailyng.com gathered that the labour leaders insisted they would have to meet with Congress to discuss the National Assembly leadership’s appeal to suspend the strike and allow for further dialogue.

The meeting was attended by the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, Deputy President of the Senate, Jibrin Barau; Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele; House Leader, Julius Ihonvbere; and the Chairmen of the Senate and House Committees on Labour, Employment and Productivity,  Diket Plang and Gboyega Adefarati, respectively,

Also, the representatives of the Federal Government present at the meeting include; Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Doris Uzoka-Anite, Minister of Science and Technology,  Uche Nnaji, Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris Malagi, Head of Service, Folasade Yemi-Esan.

The labour leaders at the meeting included the NLC President, Joe Ajaero, his TUC counterpart, Festus Osifo, and other representatives of other units of the union.

The Nigeria Labour Congress on Friday, declared an indefinite nationwide strike, starting today, Monday, June 3, 2024, owing to the Federal Government’s inability to meet the demand of the workers’ unions.

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Joe Ajaero, the President of the NLC, announced that the strike would commence following failed negotiations between the government and organised labour. The labour union found the N60,000 proposal by the government insufficient and failed to meet the new proposal of N494,000.

Meanwhile, all the leaders of the units of the NLC including the National Union of Banks, Insurance, & Financial Institutions Employees (NUBIFIE), the National Union of Civil Engineering Construction, Furniture and Wood Workers (NUCECFWW), the Medical & Health Workers Union of Nigeria, the Nigeria Civil Service Union, Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Worker (NUPENG), the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), the Association of National Aviation Professionals (ANAP) have directed their members to join the industrial action.

In the letter signed by Mohammed Ishiyaku Sheikh, the General Secretary of NUBIFIE, he informed his colleagues about the directives from the NLC on the indefinite strike.

“In total compliance with the directives from the NLC, you are hereby directed to mobilise for effective participation in your respective zonal councils/domestic committee’, stated Sheikh, in the order issued on May 31, 2024.