The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has instructed its members in states that have not yet started implementing the new minimum wage to initiate an indefinite strike, starting on December 1, 2024.
The directive follows the decisions made during the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the NLC that took place over the weekend.
The statement reads: “The NEC notes with deep frustration the persistent delay and outright refusal by some state governments to implement the 2024 National Minimum Wage Act. This betrayal by certain governors and government officials across the country flies in the face of both legality and morality, as workers continue to be denied their rightful wages amidst rising economic hardship. It is a blatant disregard for the law and the lives of millions of Nigerian workers, who are being exploited by the very leaders sworn to protect them.
“The NEC therefore resolves to set up a National Minimum Wage Implementation
Committee that will among others commence a nationwide assessment,
mobilization and sensitization campaign, educating workers and citizens on the
need to resist this assault on their dignity and rights. Furthermore, the NLC shall
initiate a series of industrial actions in all non-compliant states and shall not relent until the minimum wage is fully implemented across Nigeria.
“To this end, all state Councils where the National Minimum Wage has not been
fully implemented by the last day of November, 2024 have been directed to proceed on strike beginning from the 1st day of December, 2024. Nigerian workers demand justice, and justice they shall have.”