More trade unions are declaring their support for the nationwide strike action.
The latest are the Non-Academic Staff of Universities and Associated Institutions (NASU) and Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN). The General Secretary of NASU, Peters Adeyemi, who handed down the directive during the National Executive Council (NEC) of the union in Abuja yesterday berated the Federal Government for not providing the figures needed by the tripartite committee on minimum wage negotiation to conclude its work.
Also, the President of Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN), Biobelemoye Josiah said all the members of the union have been directed to comply with the strike action until contrary directive is issued by the NLC. Adeyemi, who is also the Deputy General Secretary of NLC, said all its members have been directed to withdraw their services immediately until the action is suspended by the NLC.
Josiah said in Abuja that minimum wage is a law that does not need rigorous debate as it has an inbuilt standard. “As the organized labour in conjunction with civil society allies commence warning strike to protest the refusal of the Federal Government to order the immediate resumption of the meeting of the Tripartite National Minimum Wage Committee in order for them to conclude their work, we at the Medical and Health Workers’ Union of Nigeria, wish to register our unalloyed support to the Nigeria Labour Congress under the able leadership of Ayuba Wabba.”
He made reference to the clause in the National Minimum Wage Act of 2004, which stipulates that minimum wage should be reviewed after every five years. According to him, the last review in 2011 was done after seven years, while the new review ought to have happened since 2016. Josiah accused government of not being sensitive to the plight of workers as soon as the price of crude oil improved in the international market.
