Nigeria’s largest labor unions began an indefinite strike on Monday, shutting down the national grid and disrupting flights across the country, over the government’s failure to agree on a new minimum wage.
image credit: the Cable. showing Nigeria’s largest labour leaders.
The strike began after the government and the country’s two largest union federations, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), failed to reach an agreement on raising the minimum wage. It is the fourth since President Bola Tinubu assumed office last year.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) stated that union members forced operators away from the country’s electricity control rooms and shut down at least six substations, eventually shutting down the national grid at 02:19 a.m. (0119 GMT).
Ibom Air, a Nigerian airline, announced it was suspending flights till further notice owing to the strike, while United Nigeria reported airports across the country had been closed, and striking workers had allowed none of its flights to fly.
Electricity and aviation unions issued a statement on Monday directing members to withdraw their services in accordance with the extended strike.
Oil unions also threatened to halt production, but Nigeria’s oil regulator, Gbenga Komolafe, said contingency plans were in place to guarantee output was not disrupted.
Tinubu has embarked on Nigeria’s boldest changes since taking office, fueling inflation to a nearly 30-year high and exacerbating Africa’s most populous nation’s cost-of-living crisis.
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