Minimum Wage: Senate President, Governors Hold Emergency Meeting with Labour Leaders Over Strike

• Senate president Godswill Akpabio and the Nigeria Governors Forum leadership have called for an emergency meeting with organised labour
• The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) announced an indefinite nationwide strike starting Monday, June 3
• NLC said the call for strike was due to unresolved disputes with the federal government over the minimum wage

FCT, Abuja- Senate president Godswill Akpabio and the leadership of Nigeria Governors' Forum (NGF) have invited the organised labour for an emergency meeting holding tonight.

The emergency meeting is against the backdrop of the organised labour's strike billed to commence on Monday, June 3.

The union announced its plan to embark on the nation-wide strike on Friday, May 31.

Protracted disagreement over minimum wage

According to Premium Times, the strike resulted from a prolonged disagreement between the NLC and the federal government over the inability to agree on a generally accepted minimum wage.

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Despite the government's final offer of N60,000, recently increased from an initial N57,000, the labour unions deemed the proposal insufficient.

During the meeting, labour unions revised their demand, lowering it by N3,000 from the initial N497,000 proposed last week to a new proposal of N494,000.

Further negotiations remained deadlocked as the government stuck to its offer of N60,000, resulting in the declaration of a nationwide indefinite strike.

Senate, governors, NLC meet

As reported by Punch, sources familiar with the matter hinted on Sunday, June 2 that the meeting was to avert the planned nationwide strike.

The source said:

“A meeting has been summoned by the senate president and the Nigeria Governors Forum. The meeting will be held Tonight."

Labour declares nationwide indefinite strike

In an earlier report by Legit.ng, the organised labour confirmed its decision to embark on the nation-wide strike over minimum wage and electricity tariff hike.

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Nigerian aviation unions withdraw services at airports, join NLC, TUC strike

The NLC and the federal government have been in a heated face-off over the rising hardship in the country.

The union is calling for improved welfare for Nigerian workers, who are the worst hit by rising inflation in the country and naira's struggles against the dollar.

Proofreading by James Ojo Adakole, journalist and copy editor at Legit.ng.

Source: Legit.ng