Union strikes have caused nationwide disruptions in Nigeria, demanding a minimum wage increase. Image source: Nigeria Labour Congress HQ, via X.
Nigeria’s main labour unions commenced an indefinite strike on Monday 3 June over the government’s failure to agree on a higher minimum wage.
The strike has caused nationwide disruptions across Nigeria, shutting down the national grid, suspending flights, and blocking the entry to parliament.
Electricity and aviation unions released a statement that said they had directed workers to withdraw their labour in compliance with strike efforts — oil unions have also threatened to halt production.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) said union members shut down at least six substations and drove operators away at power control rooms, shutting down the national grid.
Monday’s strike began after talks broke down between the government and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC).
The NLC and the TUC are the two largest union federations in Nigeria — Africa’s most populous nation — and represent hundreds of thousands of government workers across key sectors.
They are demanding the monthly minimum wage increases from 30,000 naira ($29) to 494,000 naira ($479), while the government offered 60,000 naira ($58).
It is the fourth strike the two unions have embarked on since President Bola Tinubu assumed the role in May last year.
Tinubu has launched a series of reforms since taking office that have exacerbated inflation to an almost 30-year high and worsened the cost-of-living crisis.
He has been pressured to offer relief for households and small businesses after he scrapped subsidies on petrol, which kept the price of fuel low but cost the government 10 billion naira ($9.71 million) last year.
Information Minister Mohammed Idris said the unions’ demanded wage would increase the government wage bill by 9.5 trillion naira ($9.22 billion) and is capable of “destabilising the economy”.
The union announced the strike last Friday and said it would not end until a new minimum wage is in place.
