Strike may increase hardship, degenerate into anarchy — CSO

From: Femi  Oyelola , Kaduna

As the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) embarked on a nationwide strike over the inability of the tripartite committee to agree on the new minimum wage and hike in electricity tariff, members of the Coalition of Civil Society Organisations, under the umbrella of Good Governance Forum, have decided to pull out of the strike action.

The Coalition said the decision to pull out was taken out of fear that it might degenerate into anarchy; worsen the economic situation and cause more hardship across the country.

The Nigeria Labour Union on Friday declared an indefinite nationwide strike, starting on Monday, June 3, 2024, due to the Federal Government’s refusal to increase the proposed minimum wage above N60,000.

But the Coalition of the CSOs in the press State statement gave reasons the labor unions should consider what the Federal had offered: “ A few percentages are the only ones that are working and accept what the federal has offered”.

In the press statement jointly signed by the National Coordinator and Secretary  Dr. Mansir Jaafar Ndagi and Mr.Biodun Dele,  the Coalition of CSOs cautioned the labor unions against not jacking up minimum wage to the rate that the state governments will not be able to afford the pay.

They further said, “The fear arising from another rate of inflation should matter for the condition, should labor add money beyond the reasonable level.

“We are urging the Federal government to increase the numbers of people that are giving conditional cash transfers, who are not in the working category.”

However, they urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to intervene to avert a prolonged strike action that could ground the economy.

They also appealed to the labor unions to shelve strike action immediately and go back to the negotiating table to continue to discuss with FG with a mindset that the majority of Nigerians are not civil servants.