Stay home. We are on strike – NLC tells workers. The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has directed Nigerian workers to stay home as a nationwide strike begins today, June 3.
The NLC announced this in a post on its X handle this morning, June 3.
The organized labor’s decision to continue the strike stems from a deadlocked meeting with the Federal Government and National Assembly leaders over a new national minimum wage and a reversal of the recent electricity tariff hike.
The labor unions argue that the current minimum wage of ₦30,000 is insufficient for the average Nigerian worker’s wellbeing. They lament 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. The Act requires a review every five years to meet contemporary economic demands.
Labor issued a May 31 deadline to the Federal Government for a new minimum wage. On May 31, the labor union declared a nationwide strike starting Monday, June 3, 2024, due to the government’s inability to agree on a new minimum wage and the reversal of the electricity tariff hike.
During the failed negotiations with the government, labor rejected three offers, the latest being ₦60,000. Both the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the NLC pulled out of the talks, insisting on ₦497,000 as the new minimum wage.
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