NLC Plans Indefinite Strike Over States’ Failure to Pay New Minimum Wage
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) will commence an indefinite strike on December 1 in states that do not start implementing the new minimum wage by the end of November.
The NLC made this known via a publication on its website on Sunday night following its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held In Rivers State at the weekend.
“All state councils where the National Minimum Wage has not been fully implemented by the last day of November 2024 have been directed to proceed on strike beginning from the 1st day of December 2024. Nigerian workers demand justice, and justice they shall have,” the NLC stated.
The press understands that while some states have announced the new minimum wages, some have not started paying their workers.
Zamfara State, for instance, started paying the previous N30,000 minimum wage in June 2024 — five years after the federal government approved it.
Osun State has also not announced its minimum wage. In October, the negotiation committee was still working on a model that would be approved by Governor Ademola Adeleke.
Meanwhile, full implementation of the minimum wage is one of the NLC’s demands. The pressure group also wants the federal government to implement comprehensive social protection policies that will shield Nigerians from poverty and the high cost of living.
They want the government to provide more CNG buses to reduce the daily transport cost.
In addition, the NLC is demanding appropriate pricing of petrol just as it calls for the public refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna to break the “monopolistic stranglehold the big players have on the industry”.