Minimum wage:NLC, TUC tug Nigeria’s economic crisis edge with nationwide strike 

ONOME AMUGE IN LAGOS, NIGERIA

With a resolute commitment to achieving the goal of a substantial minimum wage for Nigeria’s working populace, the organised labour movement, consisting of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), have initiated a nationwide strike action that has already begun to reverberate throughout the Nigerian economy.

The industrial action, an extension of the unions’ dissatisfaction with government policies, particularly regarding minimum wage and electricity tariffs, intends to exert pressure on the government by disrupting critical services until their demands are met.

At the point of filing this report, striking workers have mobilised at various strategic locations across the nation, determined to withhold their labour until their concerns are adequately addressed.

As the strike action launched by the organised labour movement gathered momentum, the unions made a decisive and dramatic move to convey the gravity of their demands to the government.

In a carefully orchestrated strategy, the unions initiated a nationwide blackout by compelling electricity workers to switch off the national grid at midnight. The nation-wide blackout triggered by the union’s deliberate action marked a significant turning point in the ongoing industrial action, serving as a potent symbol of the unions’ resolve to achieve their objectives.

The deliberate shutting down of the national power grid made headlines on Monday morning, as the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) issued a statement acknowledging the action by its workers in support of the ongoing industrial action.

Ndidi Mbah, the TCN spokesperson, who confirmed the shutdown in a statement, disclosed that the grid had been deliberately brought down by the electricity workers.

The statement, titled “Grid shutdown: Union Deliberately shuts down the National Grid,” partly read: 

“The Transmission Company of Nigeria hereby informs the general public that the labour union has shut down the national grid, resulting in a blackout nationwide. The national grid shut down occurred at about 2.19am this morning, June 3, 2024.

“At about 1:15 am this morning, the Benin Transmission Operator under the Independent System Operations unit of TCN reported that all operators were driven away from the control room and that staff that resisted were beaten while some were wounded in the course of forcing them out of the control room. Without any form of control or supervision, the Benin Area Control Centre was brought to zero.

“Other transmission substations that were shut down by the labour union include the Ganmo, Benin, Ayede, Olorunsogo, Akangba, and Osogbo transmission substations. Some transmission lines were equally opened due to the ongoing activities of the labour union.”

According to the TCN, power generating units from different stations across the nation were forced to reduce their generation capacity by shutting down some of their generating units, consequently decreasing the amount of electricity being fed into the national grid.

The federal government owned electric utility company stated further: “The Jebba Generating Station was forced to shut down one of its generating units while three others in the same substation subsequently shut down on very high frequency. The sudden forced load cuts led to high frequency and system instability, which eventually shut down the national grid at 2:19am.

“At about 3.23am, however, TCN commenced grid recovery, using the Shiroro Substation to attempt to feed the transmission lines supplying bulk electricity to the Katampe Transmission Substation. The situation is such that the labour union is still obstructing grid recovery nationwide.

“We will continue to make efforts to recover and stabilise the grid to enable the restoration of normal bulk transmission of electricity to distribution load centres nationwide.” 

The Independent System Operator’s grid data offered a window into the gravity of the strike action as electricity generation plunged from 2,805.59 megawatts at midnight to 28 MW by 6 a.m. on Monday.

A closer analysis of the data revealed that the majority of power plants went offline in a show of support for the nationwide industrial action, with Ibom Power, located in Uyo, being the only facility still operational and contributing a negligible amount of power to the grid.

Business a.m. gathered that the nationwide strike action has also begun to take hold across various industries, causing widespread disruptions across the country.

This is as the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI), Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), and other senior staff associations had also taken a firm stance in ensuring that workers across their respective industries fully comply with the strike action.

Prior to the broad-based support by senior staff associations for the strike action, unions representing workers in several critical sectors had already issued directives to their members to enforce full compliance with the nationwide industrial action.

Among these unions were NLC’s affiliates such as the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees (NUBIFIE), and others, whose members were called upon to join the strike and bring their respective sectors to a grinding halt.

The aviation sector  is also beginning to feel the impact of the strike action, as aviation unions including the Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals, (ANAP), National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) and the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) , have decided to withdraw their services as part of the nationwide strike action. 

Adding to the already noticeable impact of the strike on key sectors in Nigeria, the country’s tertiary education system was also significantly affected, as the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) joined the protest.

In a statement issued by Emmanuel Osodeke,the ASUU president,  the association ordered its members to down tools in solidarity with the NLC and TUC’s demands for a minimum wage increase. The directive applied to all universities nationwide, with lecturers instructed to withdraw their services and stop all academic activities until further notice.

Prior to the commencement of the nationwide strike action, the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress had proposed a minimum wage of N615,500, highlighting the rising cost of living in the country. However, in an attempt to find a middle ground and reach an agreement with the government, the unions lowered their proposal to N494,000.

While the organised labour movement made concessions by lowering their original minimum wage proposal, the federal government, in turn, offered an increase of N3,000, from its initial N57,000 offer to N60,000.

However, the unions dismissed this proposal as wholly inadequate, insisting that the N60,000 figure was still not sufficient to reflect the actual cost of living in Nigeria, and to provide workers with a decent standard of living.

With the stalemate showing no signs of resolution the labour unions were left with no viable alternative but to invoke their right to industrial action which commenced on June 3.

Justifying the government’s position on the minimum wage issue, Wale Edun,the minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy,claimed that the demand made by the organised labour was fiscally unfeasible and untenable for the country.

Edun highlighted the potential strain that such a wage increase would place on government resources and argued that the proposed wage was not financially viable given the current state of the economy.

Addressing the broader implications of the labour unions’ minimum wage demand in a televised interview on Channels Television’s “Sunday Politics” programme, Edun stressed that while the federal government was sympathetic to the concerns of the organised labour movement, it was essential for the unions to also consider the potential impact of their demand on state and local governments, as well as private sector businesses, which may not have the same level of financial resources to absorb a significant increase in labour costs.

The minister stated further: “You are not setting a wage for federal government workers, for example. You’re setting a minimum figure that states, local governments, private sector, small businesses must pay, to the extent that they have the requisite number of workers” 

“So, there are elements of how we have set the minimum wage in the past, particularly what they call the consequential adjustments, which, given what labour is asking for today, would be unaffordable across the board.” 

The minister acknowledged that the government was bound by law to review and adjust the national minimum wage every five years, yet he also drew attention to the need to consider the far-reaching consequences of such a policy change for all stakeholders.

According to the minister, the adoption of a minimum wage policy is not simply a matter of setting a number, as it involves balancing the needs of workers with the financial capacity of their employers, from public sector institutions to private companies. 

“And so therefore, the affordability has to be taken into account. And also, we probably have to also take into account the fact that there are other ways of buffeting and supporting the cost of living of workers, other than that particular wage scale,” he said.

Edun, who appeared to be at odds with the reality of the situation facing many Nigerians, expressed optimism for the future of the country’s economy despite widespread inflation driven by skyrocketing food prices.

The minister declared that Nigeria’s economy was on a path of steady growth and projected that this would result in a decline in inflation rates over the coming months.

In his words, “Mr. President has achieved relative growth and stability in his first year in office.

“The necessary fallout of the measures that had to be taken were higher interest rates to fight inflation and attract foreign currencies, which was successful. In terms of inflation, it is coming down.

“It is expected and projected to come down over the next few months.”