ORGANISED LABOUR REFUSES DIALOGUE WITH THE FEDERAL GOVT A DAY TO THE KICK OFF OF SCHEDULED STRIKE

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The Nigeria Labour Congress has said it will no longer enter into any negotiation with the government on a minimum wage for workers.
NLC, which is one of the umbrella bodies for workers, made the position of labour known on Sunday, even as it declared that workers would commence a nationwide strike on Tuesday as scheduled.

The General Secretary of the NLC, Peter Ozo-Eson, disclosed this during an interview with The PUNCH on Sunday.
He said, “The strike is going on. Nothing has changed. The strike will begin on Tuesday. That is the directive that has been given. It will be a total strike.”

Asked if oil workers would join the strike, Ozo-Eson said, “All trade unions in the country have agreed to go on strike and we expect every union to go on strike from Tuesday.”
On negotiations between the Congress and the Federal Government, Ozo-Eson said, “Negotiations have ended. Yes, we have a meeting of the tripartite committee on Monday and we will attend as long as it is to sign the report of what has been agreed. We will sign that so that it can be submitted to the government. We will not change our position.”

President Muhammadu Buhari had on November 27, 2017 approved the appointment of a 30-member tripartite National Minimum Wage Committee for negotiations on a new national minimum wage for the country.
The committee comprised representatives of the government, organised labour and the private sector.
The organised labour collectively demanded that the minimum wage be increased from N18,000 to N65, 000 but all parties were said to have agreed to N30,000 after over a year of negotiations.

However, the government announced N24,000, a move which caused the unions to declare a strike.