Nigerian unions suspend nationwide strike to allow further wage negotiations

Nigeria’s union leaders suspended a nationwide strike on Tuesday to allow further wage negotiations after previously disrupting flights, shutting down the national power grid and closing public offices and schools.

The strike, called by the two largest unions, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), came at a time when Africa’s most populous country is struggling with rising inflation and an unstable currency, the naira.

On Monday, union members shut down the power grid, grounded domestic flights and closed most federal offices, ports, gas stations and courts to demand that the government raise the minimum wage.

The government said late Monday that unions had agreed to another week of negotiations to try to reach an agreement on wages.

Following consultations with members on Tuesday, the NLC and TUC announced they had called off the strike for seven days.

“Strike action has been relaxed for one week to allow negotiations to be concluded,” NLC said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter.

The unions had demanded a monthly minimum wage of 494,000 naira (about 330 dollars), compared to the current level of 30,000 naira.

The government said late Monday that it was “committed to a national minimum wage of over 60,000 naira” and that both sides would meet “daily over the coming week” to reach an agreement.

The unions are also protesting against an increase in electricity prices, one of the economic reforms introduced by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Since taking office a year ago, Tinubu has eliminated fuel subsidies and currency controls, causing petrol prices to triple and the cost of living to rise as the naira depreciated against the dollar.

The government asked Nigerians for some time to see the effects of the reforms. It explained that these reforms would attract more foreign investment. However, the measures had severely affected purchasing power.

The second day of the strike was more mixed than Monday.

In Abuja, some ministry staff returned to work, but most offices and the National Assembly building were still locked, AFP correspondents noted.

The story goes on

Members of the aviation union gathered in front of the closed entrance to the domestic airport in Lagos, the country’s commercial capital.

However, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria spokesman said international flights continued to operate on Tuesday.

Eight members of Nigeria’s Super Eagles soccer team, including winger Ademola Lookman, were stranded on Monday due to flight delays and were unable to attend training for a World Cup qualifier, a team spokesman said.

NLC is an umbrella organization of dozens of unions with tens of thousands of members, ranging from civil servants and teachers to oil workers and transport employees.

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