Nigerian unions suspend nationwide strike to continue wage negotiations | National

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 reach an agreement.

After consulting with their members on the government’s position on Tuesday, the NLC and TUC announced they had called off the strike for seven days.

“There is a greater need to create the right climate for negotiations to continue unhindered,” the two unions said in a statement.

“The indefinite nationwide strike measures will therefore be relaxed for one week starting today in order to give the federal government the opportunity to commit to a concrete and acceptable nationwide minimum wage.”

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 the reversal of a drastic increase in electricity prices, one of the economic reforms introduced by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

They said the unions were “deeply disappointed by the government’s silence and lack of concrete action” on the tariffs.

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 before the reforms took effect, saying that they would attract more foreign investment. However, the measures had severely affected purchasing power.

– Stranded –

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

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

Members of the aviation union had blocked the entrance to the domestic airport in Lagos, the country’s economic capital, but it was later reopened.

Although domestic flights were affected, international flights continued to operate on Tuesday, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria spokesman said.

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.

bur-pma/kjm