Barely any last minute change of plans organised Labour including NLC in the country have concluded plans to embark on a warning strike to protest government delay in arriving at a new national minimum wage for the country.
President Muhammadu Buhari had in November 2017 inaugurated a tripartite committee to discuss and arrive at a new national minimum wage for the country, while the committee began sitting in March 2018.
Also, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige told the Nation in February during the 40th-anniversary celebration of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) that the committee will conclude its report before the end of the third quarter.
However, at a meeting where the committee was to finalize its work, the Minister reported announced that the government needed more time to consult before arriving at a figure which will be discussed by the committee, while the meeting was adjourned indefinitely.
The position of the minister angered Organised Labour, promptly accused the minister and the government of delaying the process, and issued a two weeks ultimatum for government to recall the committee and conclude negotiation or face an industrial action.
Although the Vice President was said to have called for a meeting to address the issue with a view to avoiding any industrial action, The Nation gathered that Organised Labour were not invited to the meeting.
However, in a two-paragraph statement on Tuesday, General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson informed all industrial unions in the country and state councils to immediately begin the mobilization of their members in readiness for the warning strike which May later snowballs into a full-blown industrial action.
The statement reads: “This is to inform you that the Organised Labour shall commence nationwide warning strike in respect of the non-implementation of the National Minimum Wage effective midnight of Wednesday 26th September 2018.
“All industrial unions and all state councils are to commence mobilization immediately for an effective strike action nationwide. A formal notification letter will be sent later in the day”.
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