Strike: We Are All Labourers – Akpabio Tells NLC, TUC

Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, says his colleagues in the Senate and members of the House of Representatives are also ‘labourers.’

Akpabio stated this on Sunday during a closed door meeting with leadership of the leaders of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, the Trade Union Congress, TUC, and some Ministers over the planned industrial action by the union.

“I hope you know we are also labourers. We are all labourers. We are under you,” he said.

The Senate President, who also appealed to the union to shelve the proposed strike in the interest of Nigerians and the nation, said he was aware that the negotiations have taken quite a while.

“The leadership of both chambers is aware that there was a tripartite committee in place to negotiate with labour on the new minimum wage for the country, taking cognisance of all the variables, including the removal of fuel subsidy, including the expiration of time since the last minimum wage was imputed.

“We are aware that those negotiations have taken quite a while. We are aware that the federal government, in its wisdom through President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, decided to institute a wage award of N35,000 at the federal level for workers pending the outcome of negotiations of a new minimum wage,” he said.

The Publisher Nigeria reports that the NLC and the TUC commenced strike on Monday following the federal government’s refusal to increase the minimum wage above N60,000.

Labour on its part is demanding N494,000 from the government.