Minimum Wage: Labour, FG to meet tomorrow over strike

The tripartite committee on the new national minimum wage has been called to a meeting by the Federal Government through the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, or NSIWC, for tomorrow, June 4.

The committee’s final meeting ended suddenly on May 31. This came about as a result of the organised private sector and government forcing the Organised Labour negotiating team to leave after OPS refused to accept an offer that was more than N60,000.

Opinion Nigeria has determined that the meeting will start at 10 a.m. tomorrow. The level of cooperation and involvement by workers on the first day of the indefinite nationwide strike, according to insiders, has frightened the authorities.

Compliance

Meanwhile, the unions shut down the country’s electricity industry in compliance with the strike order.

Acting General Secretary of the National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE, Dominic Igwebike, told Vanguard that the power sector had been shut down.

Also, all loading activities at fuel depots in Lagos have been halted by the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG.

However, Vanguard was informed that all loaded trucks were allowed to leave the depots, including aviation terminals, for safety purposes.

According to a labour leader, “We don’t want to keep a loaded truck within the depot because it is highly flammable.”

Similarly, the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, MWUN, has shut down port operations across the country.

An official of the Union told Opinion Nigeria that besides Lagos ports, all other port formations in Port Harcourt, Warri, Onne, Calabar, and others have been closed.

According to the official, they would remain shut until further notice from the national leadership of organised labour.

The same scenario is playing out in other sectors across the country, including the FCT.