In order to better comprehend the difficulties experienced by labour unions, Bamgbose Betty, the current chairman of the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria and a former treasurer of the National Labour Congress (NLC), has called on the Senate to match their pay with the minimum wage.
In the middle of the ongoing nationwide walkout called by the National Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Betty expressed her dissatisfaction with the way the government is handling minimum wage discussions during an interview on Monday.
Betty addressed the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital laboratory and questioned the federal government’s wage-talking strategy.
UPDATE: NLC and TUC Issue Strike Ultimatum to Anambra Govt
“The NLC and the TUC have been in lengthy deliberations with the government. They keep proposing incremental amounts—200 today, 300 tomorrow, 500 the next day. It’s enough. Enough is enough,” she stated.
Betty suggested that high-ranking officials, including Senators, should have their salaries pegged to the proposed minimum wage. “For them to know where it pains us, let the senate, whatever, put their salary on this minimum wage too and let’s see what will happen. I mean, let it go round,” she said.
Highlighting the financial struggles of workers, Betty lamented, “Within two to three days of being paid, the salary is gone. The suffering is too much.”
Despite the strike, Betty acknowledged that essential medical and health services continued to operate. “As my chairman mentioned, we are maintaining our essential duties, but all other workers should please go home,” she concluded.
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Organised labour declared on Friday that a statewide indefinite strike would begin in response to the Federal Government’s unwillingness to increase the proposed minimum wage from N60,000.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President, Joe Ajaero, announced that the strike will start on Sunday, June 2, 2024, at midnight.
Ajaero voiced grave worries and disappointment over the Federal Government’s inability to finalise and enact a new National Minimum Wage Act into law in a joint statement with Trade Union Congress (TUC) President Festus Osifo.
The unions further urged that the N65/kWh increase in electricity rates be reversed.
Prior to this, both unions had given notice that talks on a new minimum wage must be finished by May 31, 2024.
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However, after both sides made their offers, negotiations between the Federal Government and organised labour collapsed on Tuesday.
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