The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has urged Nigerians to commence stocking food and other necessities of life as workers will ensure a total shutdown of the country, beginning from November 6, should the government fail to pass the N30,000 new minimum wage.
In a resolution reached at the end of the National Executive Council (NEC) of the NLC held in Abuja, the workers’ union also said they were not perturbed by the no-work no-pay policy of the federal government, insisting that the right to strike is both a human right and a trade union right, and cannot be abridged.
The NLC said its strike would lead to a total shutdown of the country. The resolution, which was contained in a communiqué signed by NLC President Ayuba Wabba, and general secretary, Dr Peter Ozo-Eson, urged workers to disregard government’s directive on “no work, no pay” because workers are already being impoverished and owed arrears of salaries.
The NEC called for a national day of mobilisation and sensitisation rallies for all workers to show their outrage and anguish in the 36 states of the federation and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Tuesday, October 30, 2018.
According to the NLC, the day will also be used to educate and sensitise Nigerians on the horrendous plight of workers and pensioners, the insensitivity and duplicity of government on labour issues, and to protest the proposed obnoxious policies of government against organised labour.
The communiqué reads: “NEC-in-session directed all affiliate unions, state councils, civil society allies, the informal sector and other friends of workers and lovers of democracy to commence immediate mobilisation of their members; to commence an indefinite national strike and industrial actions from November 6, 2018, except government accepts and commences the process of perfecting the payment of N30,000 as the negotiated and compromise new national minimum wage before that date.”
It also advised government to shelve its White Paper or risk being reported to the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The NEC also resolved not to be bound by the latest White Paper by government against labour, describing it an an illegality and a throwback to the dark days of fascism which Organised Labour successfully confronted. It added that the communique served as formal notice to government that the NLC will commence an indefinite national strike from November 6, 2018 except government agrees and begins the process of implementing the payment of N30,000 as the new national minimum wage.