NLC & National Assembly last meeting meeting deadlocked as Labour insists on strike starting June 3

The last minute meeting between the leaderships of the National Assembly (NASS), and that of the organised labour, which took place on Sunday evening in Abuja, has failed with the leadership of the union insisting that the nationwide strike must start on Monday, June 3, 2024.

The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas had summoned a meeting with the Union leaders in a last minute effort to avert the planned strike organised by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), and the Trade Union Congress (TUC).

The decision of the Organised Labour followed the deadlock between the Federal Government and the unions over a new national minimum wage and the reversal of the recent hike in electricity tariffs.

The meeting, which lasted for four hours, was attended by the Chairmen of the Senate and House Committees on Labour, Employment and Productivity respectively, Diket Plang, and Adegboyega Adefarati.

According to the lawmakers, the meeting was to “avert the impending industrial action, which is planned to commence on Monday, June 3, 2024, “which would have severe repercussions on the populace and economy”.

Coming out from the meeting, the President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Festus Osifo; and his counterpart in the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, said “For now, we don’t have the power to call off the strike, tomorrow (Monday) morning, the strike will kick off as we take their (NASS) plea asking us to call off the strike to our various organs.”

The labour unions had said the current minimum wage of ₦30,000 can no longer cater to the well-being of an average Nigerian worker, lamenting that not all governors are paying the current wage award which expired in April 2024, five years after the Minimum Wage Act of 2019 was signed by former President Muhammadu Buhari. The Act should be reviewed every five years to meet with contemporary economic demands of workers.

Labour later handed the Federal Government a May 31 deadline for the new minimum wage. On May 31, the workers’ organs in the country declared a nationwide strike beginning from Monday, June 3, 2024, over the government committee’s inability to agree on a new minimum wage and reversal of electricity tariff hike.

During the failed talks with the government, Labour rejected three government offers, the latest being N60,000. Both the TUC and the NLC subsequently pulled out of negotiations, insisting on ₦497,000 as the new minimum wage.