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Abia Workers Agree To Take Part In National Strike
Come Monday, June 3, 2024, organized labour comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC); Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) and other affiliated bodies will commence a nationwide industrial action due to the increase in energy prices and the tripartite committee’s failure to come to a decision on a new minimum wage for Nigerian workers.
However, only one day after the announcement, Mohammed Idris, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, has charged organized labour to assess its decision and take into account the financial impact of its N494,000 new minimum wage demand on the government.
“Like I said now on the 31st of May 2024 in one of its meetings, which is supposed to be the seventh meeting of the tripartite agreement, labour walked out of that meeting”.
“This of course was to be the third time that labour was walking out of the meeting of the tripartite committee. On the two previous occasions, labour was persuaded to see reasons to come back to the negotiating table. We are also hoping that labour will again see reasons this time around to also return to the negotiating table in the interest of Nigeria.”
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“The sum of N494,000 national minimum wage which labour is seeking would cumulatively amount to the sum N9.5 trillion bill to the Federal Government of Nigeria” he said.
The Federal Government’s plea is coming on the heels of a similar plea by the Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed to Labour to halt the planned industrial action.
He spoke alongside his Edo State counterpart Godwin Obaseki and some members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) national working committee during a visit to Governor Alex Otti of Abia in his hometown of Isiala-Ngwa Local Government Area the South-East state.
“Some of the state governors will not be able to pay. Even at the moment, the current minimum wage of N30,000, some states are not able to pay. And I know labour leaders are really leaders,” he said.
“They should look at this because the strike may cripple the economy and further cause pain to workers and all of us. So, we are pleading that we should have a converging point where we can look at our affordability.”
In support of the FG, Ajayi Kadri, the Director-General of the Manufacturing Association of Nigeria, confirmed this development and emphasized that the private sector is currently not able to pay more than the minimum wage proposed by the federal government due to infrastructure, security, and microeconomic constraints.
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Ajayi stressed that the goal of the current discussions between labour, the private sector, and the government is to set a minimum wage, not a living wage, which would be the lowest amount of money that any worker in the nation could get.
He further highlighted the significant economic challenges faced by both labour and private businesses, making it exceedingly difficult to meet the wage demands of labour unions.
“To start with, this is a very difficult time for anyone to negotiate minimum wage. From the perspective of the government, labour and organized private sector, we operate in an environment where there is general acceptance of the fact that the macroeconomics are not right, even though the global economy is experiencing a lot of shakeups and the aftermath of government necessary reforms.
“From the beginning of the negotiations of the minimum wage, it’s evident to the tripartite— that is, the government, labour, and organized private sector— that we are going to operate in difficult terrain.
“Incidentally, the organized private sector and government have offered ₦60,000 as the minimum wage and I think it is very important for us to understand that what we are talking about is the minimum wage. That is what some people have called the walk-in wage. That is the amount we will pay the least workers in the country. It is the minimum wage we are negotiating, not a living wage,” Ajayi said while on a Channels Television programme on Saturday.
Ajayi revealed that significant obstacles are being faced by both the government and the private sector in meeting the proposed N419,000 living wage demand.
He pointed out that the private sector, particularly, is struggling with economic difficulties and inflation, making it infeasible to meet such a high wage.
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Furthermore, he emphasized that the current period is not conducive for organized labour to engage in discussions regarding a new minimum wage. Rather, they should work together with other parties to bolster the economy.
“All of us in the tripartite— the government, the labour, and the private sector — we all knew that we were operating in a very difficult environment. The government itself realized that it had limited capacity to pay. The private sector is constrained by microeconomic, infrastructure and security challenges. So, we are also constrained to pay.
“Labour, on its part, is under intense pressure from its constituencies to ask for a higher wage because inflation has hit the roof and the operating environment is tough.
“Throughout the negotiation process, we made it known that this is not the best time to negotiate minimum wage. This is the time for us to agree, the crew behind the government, and grow the economy in such a way that we will bake a bigger cake, and then we’ll be able to share,” the director general added.
He urged the organized labour to rethink their choice of initiating a nationwide strike, emphasizing that leaving negotiations and resorting to strike action would not be beneficial.
He emphasized the importance of organized labour reconsidering their decision to go on a nationwide strike, highlighting that rejecting the N60,000 offer from the government and private sector was regrettable.
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“We cannot afford to cripple the economy when all we needed to do was continue to build it. I think President Tinubu was very clear when he emerged as president that these are not going to be easy times, and I think we need to tighten our belts to deliver on an economy that we know has been seriously battered,” Ajayi-Kadir said.
He added: “Of course, the government on its own side has to demonstrate leadership, sensitivity and sense and sense of mind as well as the sense of occasion of the period that we are in. So, government expenditure, government choices of what needs to be done, how much to be spent, the cost of governance itself, all of it has to come to the table.
“I think what labour is actually worried about is that they appear to be the ones on the brunt of it but we need to be able to engage, walking out on the process and declaring a strike, I do not think that that is what is going to solve this issue.”
Meanwhile, Nigeria and Nigerians may soon be thrown into darkness as the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) has disclosed that it was mobilising its members to embark on the strike following the directive of NLC and TUC.
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The Acting. General Secretary, Mr Dominic Igwebike, gave the directive to the members in a statement.
Igwebike said that along with the reasons for inconclusive negotiations on the minimum wage and electricity tariff hike, apartheid categorisation of Nigeria electricity consumers into bands was another, to embark on the strike.
“Given the above, all national, state, and chapter executives are requested to start the mobilisation of our members in total compliance with this directive to ensure the government does the right thing as stated above.
“The withdrawal of services becomes effective on Sunday 2nd June by 12.00 midnight, “ the union leader said.
Similarly, while Nigerians will be battling pitch darkness due to the strike by electricity workers on one hand, they will also be contending with fuel scarcity on another as the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has also directed its members to comply with the directive of the two labour centres to begin an indefinite nationwide strike on Monday.
Its General Secretary, Mr Afolabi Olawale, in a statement on Saturday, said the union was committed to ensuring total compliance with the directive.
Afolabi said the union was concerned and disturbed with the insensitive attitude of the federal government “to the very critical issue of negotiating a new minimum wage for Nigerian workers”.
“This is in view of the various socio- economic policies of this administration that have impoverished the working people of this country.
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“Leaders of our great union at all levels, from the units, zones and branches, should immediately put all processes in place to ensure total compliance with this directive.”
In a related development, the Abia NLC chairman, Ogbonnaya Okoro, disclosed that workers in the state will join the strike and others will be mobilised during the weekend to join.
He said, “We will join the strike. By this weekend, we will start mobilisation and join others. The order is just coming tonight and we will communicate with them on Monday. It will begin on Monday and will not stop on Monday.
“The offices are not open on weekends and we will not go beyond the law. The arrangement came suddenly. We will follow the due process and serve them. We will call for a state emergency meeting on Monday. We will do the necessary things so that we will not be faulted.
“The order came late and you don’t serve notices on Saturday, so we will do that on Monday.”
