By Omotilewa Quadri
Leaders of Nigeria’s labour unions on Sunday announced the suspension of their four days national warning strike but said the face-off with government is far from over. The unions began the warning strike on September 26.
On Sunday, they said they were suspending it in order to enable a conducive environment for a crucial meeting of the tripartite committee involving the unions and government next week October 4 and 5.
“We have received a firm and formal invitation to a reconvened meeting of the tripartite committee scheduled for 4th and 5th of October, 2018,” the unions said at press Sunday afternoon.
The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Ayuba Wabba, who addressed the briefing, said this week’s meeting will be the final session of the tripartite committee after which a final report will be submitted to President Muhammadu Buhari.
“Organised Labour has, after obtaining the mandate of their necessary organs, decided to suspend the strike action with effect from today, Sunday September 30, 2018.
“We urge all our unions and state councils to maintain a high level of mobilisation and readiness until the struggle for a reasonable minimum wage is achieved,” Wabba said.
Speaking in the same vein, the acting president of Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), Sunday Salako, said the unions are not calling the strike off but suspending it until their demands are met.
The National Minimum Wage Committee was inaugurated November 2017 but commenced work in March this year and drew timelines to deliver a new national minimum wage by September 2018.
The workers are demanding between N50,000 and 65,000 as the new minimum wage.
The current national minimum wage is N18,000.
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