FG Invites Labour to Meeting as Nationwide Strike Cripples Economy

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

The federal government has been forced to call for a meeting with aggrieved Nigerian workers, who crippled the country’s economy on Monday after they refused to resume work.

The compliance level of the industrial action was very high, with banks, schools, and other offices shutting down their doors. The nation was also left in darkness after electricity workers shut down the national grip.

According to reports, the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC) has asked the organised labour comprising the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), to come for a meeting on Tuesday, June 4, 2024, by 10 am.

The labour unions are asking for an improved minimum wage of N490,000 per month, but the government is proposing N60,000, 100 per cent higher than the current amount.

At the last meeting held with the federal government on May 31, 2024, the labour leaders rejected what workers are offered.

On Sunday night, the leadership of the National Assembly (NASS), in a last-minute effort to avert the nationwide strike, met with the labour unions, but nothing positive came out of it.

It was gathered that the government was not expecting the action of the workers to ground the economy as it did today.

According to reports, the ports and the airports were not spared, as operations were disrupted, including at most hospitals, which could not use electricity because of the power outage.

“Please be informed that the current service disruption is as a result of the ongoing strike action by organised labour and as such, there will be limited access to our call centre helplines,” a part of the statement issued by one of the power distribution companies, Ikeja Electric, said.