Labour leaders have scheduled a meeting for Abuja on Friday (today) to fine-tune strategies for the nationwide strike planned for Tuesday next week.
The workers through their leaders have planned a nationwide strike to protest the federal government’s refusal to accept the demand for N30,000 new minimum wage for workers.
The labour leaders will be attending a joint meeting of the Central Working Committees (CWCs) of the Nigeria Labour Congress(NLC).
The NLC President, Mr. Ayuba Wabba, and General Secretary, Mr. Peter Essom, had called for today’s meeting.
The NLC had in its last National Executive Council (NEC) meeting resolved to embark on indefinite strike nationwide beginning from Nov 6 over the position of the federal government on the N30,000 minimum wage.
The NLC had in response to the governors who agreed to pay N22,500, said they cannot accept anything less than N30,000 which was agreed during a tripartite negotiation.
As part of the series of engagements mapped out by the joint organs meeting of the labour movement, there would be a joint meeting of the Central Working Committees (CWCs) of all the Labour Centres in the country.
A communiqué signed by the NLC President, Mr. Ayuba Wabba, and General Secretary, Mr. Peter Essom, after its last meeting in Abuja had fixed Friday’s meeting.
The NEC meeting had resolved to commence an indefinite national strike and industrial actions from November 6, except government accepts and commences the process of perfecting the payment of N30,000 as the negotiated and compromise new national minimum wage before that date.
The communique reads: “In furtherance of this, NEC-in-session directed all affiliate unions, state councils, civil society allies, the informal sector and other friends of workers and lovers of democracy to commence immediate mobilization of their members;
“The NEC advised Nigerians to start stocking food and other necessities of life as workers will ensure a total shutdown of the country”.
Similarly the NLC condemned the decision of the federal government to clamp down on labour via what it described as “selective and erroneous invocation of the ‘no work, no pay” clause in the Trade Disputes Act”, noting that the right to strike is both a human and trade union right and cannot be abridged.”
Also while responding to the offer by state governors to pay N22,500 as new minimum wage, the NLC said it would not accept anything short of N30,000 agreed during the tripartite negotiations.
“We wish to reiterate our position adopted at our National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of 23rd October, 2018 that any figure below N30,000 will not be accepted by us.
” We call on our members to continue to mobilize in preparation for the commencement of an indefinite strike on the 6th of November, 2018, if by then necessary steps have not been taken to adopt the recommendations of the Tripartite Committee,” it said.
