Labour Begins Nationwide Strike Today; Seaports, Airports Workers Join

The Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC and Trade Union Congress, TUC, have embarked on an indefinite strike.

The strike which started in the midnight of June 3, came after the last-ditch efforts by the National Assembly and the state governors failed to stop the workers from carrying out their threat to abandon their duties.

The magazine reported that the Senate President Godswill Akpabio and representatives of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, on Sunday, summoned the leadership of the NLC and TUC to Abuja, the nation’s capital with a view to intervene on the issue.

No agreement was reached with labour who told journalists last night that the strike will proceed as planned.

Sources at the meeting with the NASS and governors informed the magazine that the intervention came late. “The NASS intervention was too little and too late. It fell short of our expectations, more so when we have already directed our affiliate unions to proceed on the action,” a top source at the meeting said.

The National Treasurer of the NLC, Hakeem Ambali had earlier noted that only President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s direct intervention could salvage the breakdown in the ongoing negotiation between the Organised Labour in the country and the government.

Recall that the negotiation broke down after the NLC and TUC rejected the N60,000 minimum wage offered by the federal government.

The unions had described the offer as very “insensitive” on the part of the government considering the current economic situation in the country.

The tripartite negotiation between the federal and state government, and the private sector representatives broke down on May 31 after the government failed to agree to the N494,000 minimum wage demand by the NLC and TUC.

Meanwhile, major trade unions in the country have said they will join the strike called by the NLC and TUC.

These include Maritime, Aviation, Transport workers among others, as the strike, according to those watching the polity said will paralyse economic activities across the country.