Travellers trying to get a flight to their destinations this Monday have been one of the most affected groups after the labour unions in Nigeria, in their demand for a ₦494,000 minimum wage, decided to start an indefinite strike a day before.

Labour union demands ₦494k minimum wage, rejecting FG's weak ₦60k offer.

Learn more about the ongoing negotiations: https://t.co/H6MqHwTQ3y#Nigeria #MinimumWage #LabourUnion #EconomicPolicy #NLC #TUC #NigerianWorkers #EconomicJustice #ReadMore pic.twitter.com/j8qfpURG9W

— Meiza Nigeria (@MeizaNigeria) May 29, 2024

At the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos, prospective passengers were going to miss their scheduled air travel because members of the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), the Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals (ANAP), and the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) had all pulled the plug on their operations.

The result of aviation workers shunning their duties has been reflected on social media. Over there are depictions of travellers strutting along walkways and waiting for a taxi to pick them up but they will never come. At least not until the critical parties have agreed.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Council (TUC) insist on a living wage and not the ₦60,000 that the Federal Government offered them when they met last week. Through NLC’s X, there have been tweets expressing exactly what needs to be done.

We demand a living wage. More money in the hands of workers would boost the economy because it goes to the market. But money in the hands of politicians [is] buried in the soakaway pit.

Initially, the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio alongside the Nigeria Governor’s Forum had tried to meet the labour union representatives on Sunday, 2 June, when the strike kick-started. Still, there was no moving them to call off the industrial action.

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What the unions are standing on via Trade Union Congress President Comrade Festus Osifo, who was at the meeting, is that the strike will go on even as the politicians try to find an amicable settlement to stop the nationwide downing of tools.

Even though the strike has all been for workers, the demonstrations they are leading are also biting them hard. They too are without electricity in their homes, and the small and medium-sized enterprises they have as their side business also struggle for yields without energy.

Although the electricity supply is naturally unreliable, the workers at energy companies going on strike is making a bad situation worse.

We don’t have the right to call off the industrial action approved by our Organs. Thus, the action will continue while [we have] a meeting with our Organs to relate to them your proposals, was how NLC summarised Comrade Osifo’s message to the Nigeria Governor’s Forum and the Senate President when they met yesterday.

We don't have the right to call off the industrial action approved by our Organs . Thus, The action will continue while we will have a meeting with our Organs to relate to them your proposals – Organized Labour tells the Leadership Of the National Assembly pic.twitter.com/SkZ8DVBxE8

— Nigeria Labour Congress HQ (@NLCHeadquarters) June 2, 2024

Possibly on the same day the strike action commenced, the Nigeria Labour Congress President Joe Ajaero was also in church making a public display of what workers want. He emphasises it as a living wage that would enable a community like a church to better contribute to excellence in society because all the congregants have been well taken care of at their workplace.

At the moment, the union Comrade Ajaero leads is asking for ₦494,000 minimum wage for its members, although he has also shared that labour is willing to listen to much closer offers from the federal government even though it brings the demand lower than before.

The neutrals like Dr. Victor Ahonsi, back on X, tweeted that a ₦494 000 minimum wage is unrealistic and unsustainable in today’s Nigeria. It will kill SMEs that currently provide over 84% [of] employment in Nigeria. Private industries and companies will become unprofitable and start downsizing or folding up.

A N494 000 minimum wage is unrealistic and unsustainable in today's Nigeria.
It will kill SMEs that currently provide over 84% employment in Nigeria.
Private industries and companies will become unprofitable and start downsizing or folding up.
Job loses will escalate, and it…

— Dr. Vincent Ahonsi (@VincentAhonsi) June 3, 2024

Generally, the reactions to the strike have been mixed. One side thinks the NLC should go broke while there are those picturing labour’s demand as somewhat outrageous.

Better settle for [a] reasonable amount, nobody will pay anything above 100k as minimum wage, a profile Northerner also tweets.

Better settle for reasonable amount, nobody will pay anything above 100k as minimum wage.

But we go use this strike hold body this week.
Let me sleep!😴

— Northerner (@Northerner0) June 3, 2024

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Ayodele Johnson

Ayodelé is a Lagos-based journalist and the Content and Editorial Coordinator at Meiza. All around the megacity, I am steering diverse lifestyle magazine audiences with ingenious hacks and insights that spur fast, informed decisions in their busy lives.