The Campaign for Democratic and Workers’ Rights (CDWR) has called on the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) to immediately mobilize and declare a nationwide strike.
This strike is in response to demands for a higher minimum wage and the recent hike in electricity tariffs.
CDWR emphasizes the need for a 48-hour general strike and mass protest to demand a minimum wage of no less than N200,000. They also call for the reversal of anti-poor policies such as privatization, deregulation, subsidy removal, and electricity tariff hikes.
Chinedu Bosah, the National Publicity Secretary of CDWR, stated, “The NLC and TUC have been in a deadlock with the government and private sector over a new minimum wage, with negotiations stalled for over three weeks. The government and private sector’s insistence on a N60,000 wage led to an indefinite strike starting on June 3, 2024, which was suspended the next day.”
Bosah criticized the labour leadership for not having a plan post-suspension and for prioritizing attendance at International Labour Organisation (ILO) meetings in Switzerland over local mobilization efforts. He highlighted that this lack of action has allowed the capitalist elite more time to recover and counteract labour movements.
The CDWR statement also underscored the severe economic conditions in Nigeria, with inflation at 33.95 percent and the cost of living skyrocketing. Basic food items and necessities have become unaffordable, making the current minimum wage of N60,000 grossly insufficient.
Bosah pointed out the disparity between the lavish expenditures of politicians and the proposed low wages for workers, citing the National Assembly’s N57.6 billion expenditure on SUVs as an example of such extravagance.
The CDWR believes that higher wages alone will not resolve the economic crises unless paired with resistance to all anti-poor policies. They referenced the recent success of mass protests in Kenya, which forced the government to withdraw IMF/World Bank-inspired tax increments, as a model for Nigeria.
In closing, the CDWR called for the inclusion of an automatic minimum wage adjustment in line with inflation rates and urged for the formation of a pan-Nigerian democratic and working people’s political party on a socialist programme to challenge the capitalist ruling elite and plan the economy for the benefit of the majority.
