MINIMUM WAGE: Labour says it’s not embarking on strike but protest

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has said it is not embarking on strike from Tuesday, the 8th of January over the lingering agitation for a new minimum wage in the country.

The union, said it is rather embarking on a nationwide protest to draw attention to its demand for the upward review of the national minimum wage from N18,000 to N30,000.

Making the clarification in a statement on Monday, the General Secretary of the NLC, Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson, said there would be no strike for now, calling on members of the public to disregard reports that strike would commence tomorrow (Tuesday).

Read also: MINIMUM WAGE: Our agitation not political —NLC

The statement reads in part: “It has come to our attention that some sections of the news media have largely misrepresented our action plan in reaction to the delay in transmitting the recommendations of the Tripartite Committee on a new national minimum wage to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari.

“It should be recalled that the National Executive Council of the NLC met on December 17 last year and directed that we hold nationwide mobilisation of workers and our allies if, by December 31, 2018, the bill on the national minimum wage has yet to be sent to the National Assembly to be passed as an Act of Parliament.

“We immediately announced then that on Tuesday, January 8, 2019, there will be a nationwide mass mobilisation and protests simultaneously across all states in Nigeria. This does not translate to a strike.”

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