The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC has directed all its members and associate unions to commence a nationwide strike today over the refusal of the Federal Government to reconvene the meeting of the tripartite committee to enable it to conclude its work on the new national minimum wage.
The NLC’s directive follows a meeting with the Minister of Labour and Employment, Mr Chris Ngige on Wednesday. The NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, had declared a total strike following the meeting, saying both parties could not reach an agreement. But Ngige maintained today that the meeting was successful.
The organised labour had issued a fourteen-day ultimatum to the Federal Government on the thirteenth September, 2018 to allow the committee to conclude its work. It however accused Ngige of delaying the process of arriving at a new minimum wage which workers had been expecting since 2016.
In Kwara State, civil servants have fully complied with the directive and most of the government establishments are under lock and key. The state chairman of the Trade Union Congress, Kola Olumoh, appealed to the President to accede to the demands of the labour leaders to prevent a total breakdown of the economy.
Also, in Lagos, Oyo and Niger States, workers have complied with the directive. In Abuja, public schools are also enforcing the directive, as students were being sent back home from the Government College Garki.
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