Minimum Wage: NLC Told To Declare Nationwide Strike, Amount Tinubu Should Pay Disclosed
- A group has expressed concern over the delay in the declaration of the new national minimum wage figure
- The back and forth on the negotiation between the federal government and the NLC has angered the Campaign for Democratic and Workers’ Rights (CDWR), which urged labour (NLC, TUC) to declare a nationwide strike
- At the moment, President Bola Tinubu's government is pushing for N62,000 as the minimum wage while organised labour insisted on N250,000 as pay for Nigerian workers
Legit.ng journalist Esther Odili has over two years of experience covering political parties and movements.
Following the delay in President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's led federal government's announcement of a new national minimum wage, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have been told to proceed with a nationwide strike.
Source: Facebook
Group tells labour to embark on strike immediately
The Campaign for Democratic and Workers’ Rights (CDWR) made this call to the NLC leadership, which is headed by Joe Ajero.
The group urged organised labour on Monday, July 1, to immediately mobilise and declare a nationwide strike over the minimum wage and the recent hike in electricity tariff.
Minimum wage: Tinubu told to pay workers N200,000
Speaking further, CDWR urged labour to declare and mobilise widely for a 48-hour general strike and mass protest to demand a minimum wage not less than N200, 000.
The group also urged labour to demand the immediate reversal of all anti-poor policies (privatization, deregulation, subsidy removal, electricity tariff hike etc).
As reported by Vanguard, the national publicity secretary, Chinedu Bosah, voiced the CDWR's concerns in a statement released to the press on Monday.
Minimum wag: FG, Labour negotiations deadlocked
Recall the NLC and the TUC have been at loggerheads with the government and private sector over a new minimum wage.
In fact, negotiation has been deadlocked for over three weeks and still counting, as the federal government and the Organised Private Sector insisted on paying paying N62, 000 and the labour demanded N250,000.
This was weeks after organised labour embarked on a nationwide strike following FG's N60,000 minimum wage offer; but the strike was suspended on June 4, 2024.
Speaking on Monday, July 1, the group contended that:
“The mass protest of mostly young people has just forced the Ruto-led government in Kenya to withdraw the IMF/World Bank-inspired tax increment policy. This example shows that it is also possible for Nigerian working people and youth to force the Tinubu-led government to reverse the prices of petroleum products, electricity tariffs, fee hikes in public schools, and all other neo-liberal capitalist policies, policies which would give some immediate respite to most Nigerians.
“CDWR calls on the leadership of NLC and TUC, as the next step in the minimum wage struggle, to declare and this time mobilise widely for a 48-hour general strike and mass protest to demand a minimum wage not less than N200, 000 and the reversal of all anti-poor policies (privatization, deregulation, subsidy removal, electricity tariff hike etc).”
Read more on minimum wage
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- Minimum wage: Presidency gives fresh update on transmission of proposed bill to national assembly
New minimum wage: NLC speaks on expectations
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the organised labour said it expects Tinubu to reach out to members of the tripartite committee on the new national minimum wage to reconcile the figures.
Labour noted it was expecting to see a copy of the draft bill that would be sent to the national assembly.
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Source: Legit.ng
