Strike: Abbas, Akpabio Hold hurried talks with Labour

In an attempt to sway resentful workers to abandon their planned industrial action for a higher minimum wage, the National Assembly leadership met with the leaders of organised labour in Abuja on Sunday night.

In Abuja, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President Joe Ajaero and his Trade Union Congress (TUC) counterpart Festus Osifo are meeting with Senate President Godswill Akpabio and House of Representatives Speaker Tajudeen Abbas.

The National Assembly declared that the meeting was called to “avert the impending industrial action” that was scheduled to start on Monday, June 3, 2024, “which would have severe repercussions on the populace and economy.”

The decision of the organised labour movement came after the unions and the federal government could not agree on a new national minimum wage and the recent increase in electricity prices was reversed.

Attending the conference are the Chairmen of the Senate and House Committees on Labour, Employment, and Productivity, respectively, Diket Plang and Adegboyega Adefarati.

The labour unions had complained that the current minimum wage of ₦30,000, which expired in April 2024, five years after former President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Minimum Wage Act of 2019, could no longer support the welfare of an average Nigerian worker.

The Act ought to be reviewed every five years to keep up with the needs of workers in the modern economy.
Later, Labour set the Federal Government a deadline of May 31 for the new minimum wage.

Over the government committee’s failure to agree on a new minimum wage and the reversal of the power tariff hike, the workers’ organisations throughout the nation announced on May 31 that they would go on a national strike starting on Monday, June 3, 2024.

Labour turned down three government proposals during the stalemate negotiations, the most recent one being N60,000. Later on, the TUC and the NLC withdrew from the talks, insisting that ₦497,000 be the new minimum wage.