NLC STRIKE: Lagos Secretariat Blocked, Banks Defy Labour

Officials of the organised labour, on Monday, barricaded the Lagos State Government secretariat in Ikeja, preventing workers from gaining access.

Most of the workers were seen sitting outside the entrance of the main gate.

This was in compliance with the ongoing strike declared by the leadership of the organised labour over the refusal of the Federal Government to adopt labour’s N494,000 National Minimum Wage proposal.

The Federal Government has refused to shift ground on its proposed N60,000 minimum wage.

At the secretariat, THE WHISTLER also observed the presence of security operatives, including the Nigeria Police and the Lagos Neighborhood Safety Corps (LNSC).

However, while the state secretariat was barricade in total compliance with the ongoing strike, all the banks monitored by THE WHISTLER in the Ikeja area were all opened for operation, attending to their customers.

Some of the banks monitored by THE WHISTLER include Wema Bank, Access Bank, Zenith Bank, and Sterling Bank.

Aside increase in minimum wage, the organised labour is also demanding a reversal of the hike in electricity tariff from N225/kWh back to N65/kWh.

This is in addition to stoppage of the apartheid categorisation of consumers into bands by electricity distribution companies.

After the meeting with the Federal Government on Friday ended in a deadlock, the leadership declared an indefinite strike which commenced on Monday.

“In light of this persistent inaction, we— the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress— hereby issue a notice of commencement of an indefinite nationwide strike to the Federal Government.

“We reiterate that since the National Minimum Wage negotiation exercise has not been concluded and the agreed wage passed into law; the hike in electricity tariff not reversed and categorisation of consumers into bands not stopped as demanded; Nigerian workers are compelled by these failures to embark on an indefinite nationwide industrial action, beginning on Monday, June 3, 2024, to press home our demands.

“The NLC and TUC are united in this cause, and we call on all our affiliates and state councils, civil society organisations, market men and women and the general populace to prepare for decisive action. We cannot and will not accept any further delays or excuses. The welfare of Nigerian workers and people is non-negotiable, and we are ready to take all necessary steps to ensure that their rights are protected and their voices heard,” the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, had said on Friday.