June 1 (EUROPA PRESS) –
Nigeria’s two main workers’ unions announced this Saturday that a “total and indefinite” strike will begin next Monday across the country to demand a new minimum wage.
The Nigerian Labor Congress (CNT) and the Trade Union Congress (CSC) have been negotiating with the federal government for months on a new minimum wage since government policies announced last year by President Bola Tinubu resulted in an astronomical increase in the cost of goods and services.
Negotiations have been stalled for weeks regarding the increase in the current minimum wage of 30,000 naira per month (about 20 euros). “Given this persistent inaction, we issued the notice to begin the indefinite national strike,” announced the president of the CSC, Festus Osifo, in statements reported by the ‘Premium Times’.
The country’s president, Bola Tinubu, has eliminated a costly fuel subsidy and lifted restrictions on foreign exchange trading, ultimately tripling gasoline prices.
Africa’s most populous nation is now grappling with a cost of living crisis, fueled by the highest inflation rate in nearly three decades. Tinubu has been under pressure from unions to offer help to households and small businesses after removing this subsidy, which kept petrol cheap but cost the Government almost €10 billion last year.
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