Nigeria’s main labour unions declare indefinite strike over minimum wage

Nigeria’s main labour unions on Friday said they had declared an indefinite strike from Monday after failing to agree a new minimum wage with the government.
The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) – two of the country’s biggest unions – had said on May 1 that they would down tools if a new minimum wage was not agreed by the end of May.
“Government refused to move forward, not even a kobo was added to the 60,000 naira that they proposed on Tuesday and we rightly rejected,” the unions said in a statement.
They said government representatives had not shown up for a meeting on Friday to discuss the issue after the unions rejected an earlier proposal.
The NLC and TUC said the strike would last until a new minimum wage was in place. They also demanded the reversal of an electricity tariff hike effected last month.