The Campaign for Democratic and Workers’ Rights, CDWR, has called on Ogranised Labour to immediately mobilize and declare a nationwide strike over the minimum wage and the recent hike in electricity tariff.
According to CDWR, Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, as the next step in the minimum wage struggle, should declare and mobilise widely for a 48-hour general strike and mass protest to demand a minimum wage not less than N200, 000 and the reversal of all anti-poor policies (privatization, deregulation, subsidy removal, electricity tariff hike etc).
In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Chinedu Bosah, CDWR said “The NLC and TUC have been at loggerheads with the government and private sector over a new minimum wage and negotiation has been deadlocked for over 3 weeks and still counting. Government and Private Sector insistence on paying N60, 000 provoked the declaration of an indefinite strike which started on June 3rd 2024 but was suspended on the 4th of June, 2024.
“The suspension was to last for five days but it does not appear that the labour leadership put in place any plan of action should the government as usual failed to meet their demands as many principal leaders proceeded on the trip to the meetings of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Switzerland. This is the second time the labour leadership has suspended action this year and gone to sleep. The first one was a 2-week ultimatum that was declared following the suspension of a nationwide mass protest on February 28, 2024, and lapsed on March 13, 2024.
“The strike organised on June 3, 2024, was the most effective and widely supported compared to previous strikes since 2016 even though it was not adequately mobilized. The capitalist ruling elite came under pressure as major sectors of the economy were shut down including sea, airport and electricity. Rather than build on the momentum, labour leaders have again gone to sleep. Unfortunately, this inaction gave the capitalist ruling elite more time to maneuver and recover. “The labour leaders could make the case that they were engaged in important meetings at the International Labour Organisation, in that case, they could have sent one or two people to Europe instead of a delegation of around 116 so-called ‘workers representatives’. Then the other ‘workers’ representatives’ could have travelled around Nigeria campaigning rather than sitting in Switzerland. Instead, when millions upon millions of Nigerians suffer a massive drop in living standards, the “Generals” left the battlefield for too long and did nothing serious to mobilise support for what was likely to be a major struggle.
“Wage is a very crucial integral aspect of the unfair/exploitative/profiteering capitalist system, the self-serving capitalist ruling elite, government and private sector employers will continually do everything to condemn Nigerian workers to poverty wage to secure huge profit and profligate lifestyle for themselves. Weak Nigerian capitalism can only function based on low wages; hence, the government and the organised private sector resist a genuine living wage for workers. Even the N30, 000 minimum wage, which ought to have been outdated, has not been implemented by some states. For instance, Zamfara State government just announced implementation of N30,000 minimum wage structure this month (June 2024) more than five years after it had become law. In line with class struggle, the challenge for the trade union movement is to force the capitalist ruling elite to grant living wage to Nigerians workers and also resist all anti-people policies.
High inflation
“This is urgent. Inflation rate is 33.95 percent, the rising cost of living is notoriously high as prices change rapidly, and food generally has become unaffordable forcing many people to go hungry. A basket of tomatoes is over N60, 000, a bag of beans is over N180, 000, a big tuber of yam is over N1
