NLC and TUC suspend nationwide strike for five days

The National Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) called off their five-day nationwide strike following a meeting with the federal government on Monday.

This is according to a report by Channel TV on Tuesday, which confirmed the suspension of the strike.

The unions met on Tuesday after submitting their documents to the federal government.

Nairametrics had previously reported a meeting between union leaders and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, and other government officials.

The meeting held on Monday ended with a resolution in which President Bola Ahmed Tinubu reiterated his commitment to introduce a new minimum wage of over 60,000 naira.

They also decided that the tripartite committee would meet daily over the next week to agree on an acceptable national minimum wage.

Given this development, it is expected that all government and private offices will reopen and operate as usual.

The agreement states: “The President of Nigeria, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, has committed to setting a national minimum wage of over 60,000 naira. The Tripartite Committee will meet daily for the next week to set an acceptable national minimum wage.”

Organized labor also agreed “The union must immediately convene meetings of its bodies to examine this new offer. No worker should face harassment for taking part in the industrial action.

Background story

The National Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) called an indefinite strike on Monday, bringing virtually all economic activity in the country to a standstill.

The unions decided to take industrial action after negotiations between them and the government over the minimum wage for workers reached an impasse.

The union argued that a new minimum wage was long overdue and that the government needed to raise workers’ wages in the face of ever-increasing prices of goods and services.

Accordingly, the NLC and TUC initially proposed a new wage of 615,000 Naira to the Federal Government. However, after numerous negotiations and consultations, the union agreed on an amount of 419,000 Naira.

The government, however, insisted on the payment of the sum of 60,000 naira, adding that the amount proposed by the union was unsustainable.