THE Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has said workers’ nationwide strike would continue despite the resolution reached with the federal government Monday night.
In a post on X on Tuesday, June 4, the NLC announced that the industrial action would continue until the union’s organs meet to review all resolutions from the meeting with the federal government.
“Until we hear from our organs at our meeting scheduled for today, June 4, we are still on strike,” it wrote on X.
However, The ICIR reports that the strike may end soon following the resolution reached between the representatives of the federal government and the labour after a six-hour meeting on Monday evening, in Abuja.
The agreement was reached during a meeting convened by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume.
The resolution was co-signed by the President of the NLC, Joe Ajaero, his counterpart at the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Festus Osifo, the Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, and the Minister of Labour, Nkiruka Onyejeocha.
While no specific amount was agreed upon as the new minimum wage, the parties resolved that the federal government commit to a figure higher than the current N60,000 offered.
The parties also agreed on the Tripartite committee meeting everyday for the next one week with a view to arriving at an agreeable national minimum wage.
“After exhaustive deliberation and engagement by both parties, the following resolutions were reached:
“The President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Federal Republic of Nigeria is committed to a national minimum wage that is higher than N60,000;
“Arising from the above, the Tripartite Committee is to meet everyday for the next one week with a view to arriving at an agreeable national minimum wage;
“Labour in deference to the high esteem of the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Federal Republic of Nigeria’s commitment in (ii) above undertakes to convene a meeting of its organs immediately to consider this commitment.
“No worker would be victimised as a result of the industrial action,” the agreement read.
The ICIR reported the ongoing strike has grounded businesses, with workers shutting down agencies and departments of government across the country.
Schools, airports, train and power stations were among institutions affected by the strike.
The strike came as a direct response to unresolved issues surrounding wage increase and electricity tariff hike.
The labour announced the action on Friday, May 31.
In Abuja, the workers shut down the National Assembly, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), the Federal Secretariat, and the Old Secretariat among other notable public institutions in compliance with the strike order, issued by the NLC and the TUC.
The labour leaders stated that they took the decision after their ultimatum for the federal government to finalise all negotiations for the new minimum wage by the end of May expired.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: [email protected]. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M