Check Out The News Well Before Stepping Out Tomorrow, June 11

Public servant of private sector operator, please, check out the news well before stepping out of your home tomorrow Tuesday June 11.

The advice is mainly for two reasons:

The organised labour has vowed to reject any ₦62,000 or ₦100,000 minimum wage proposal for Nigerian workers by the federal government.

There is every indication therefore that it would resume its suspended strike over wage disagreement with the federal government.

In fact, Assistant General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Chris Onyeka, described a ₦62,000 wage proposal put forward by the federal government as a “starvation wage”.

Speaking in an interview on Channels Television on Monday, Onyeka insisted that labour won’t accept it but wanted a living wage of ₦250,000 for the average Nigerian worker.

READ ALSO: NLC Shuns Meeting With FG, Commences Warning Strike

“Our position is very clear. We have never considered accepting ₦62,000 or any other wage that we know is below what we know can take Nigerian workers home. We will not negotiate a starvation wage.

“We have never contemplated ₦100,000, let alone ₦62,000. We are still at ₦250,000, that is where we are, and that is what we considered enough concession to the government and the other social partners in this particular situation. We are not just driven by frivolities but the realities of the marketplace, realities of things we buy every day: a bag of rice, yam, garri, and all of that.”

Asserting that the one-week grace period given to the Federal Government to review its proposal last Tuesday, June 4, 2024, would expire by midnight on Tuesday, June 11, 2024, Onyeka said Organised labour would meet to decide on the resumption of the nationwide industrial action if the Federal Government and National Assembly fail to act on workers’ demands by tomorrow.

“The Federal Government and the National Assembly have the call now. It is not our call. Our demand is there for them (the government) to look at and send an Executive Bill to the National Assembly, and for the National Assembly to look at what we have demanded, the various facts of the law, and then come up with a National Minimum Act that meets our demands.

“If that does not meet our demand, we have given the Federal Government a one-week notice to look at the issues and that one week expires tomorrow (Tuesday). If after tomorrow, we have not seen any tangible response from the government, the organs of the organised labour will meet to decide on what next.”

READ ALSO: Breaking: FG To Begin Direct Cash Transfer To Nigerians Over Hardship

The second implication of checking out the news before stepping out tomorrow is implied from the above: should labour embark on strike, the streets would not be too friendly.

Above everything else, vehicular movement would be curtailed, and this could exert pressure on those who depend on public transportation to get to their places of work or business.

People are also advised to Check Out The News because transporters in Nigeria, especially in the cities, have the tendency of hiking fare in the event of incidences like strike; it presupposes also that seeking to commute would be challenging.