Minimum Wage Strike: NLC, TUC Locks Down Plateau Secretariat, Others

From Tongnaan Bawa, Jos

The leaders and members of the Nigerian Labour Congress and Trades Union Congress in Plateau State shut down the State Secretariat on Monday, locking down other state offices in compliance with the national minimum wage strike in the state.

The NLC and TUC leaders, in their large number, arrived at the State Secretariat as early as 6 am and locked all entrances, preventing workers from gaining access.

The Labour unions also shut down all banks and the Jos Electricity Distribution Company (JEDC) office. Vice Chairman of NLC Plateau State, Comrade Sunday Akinfola, and Vice Chairman of Trades Union Congress, Comrade Chundung Alamba, both said the nationwide strike resulted from the federal Government’s failure to agree on a new National Minimum Wage with the Organized Labour and withdraw the unilateral hike in the electricity tariff in the country.

Comrade Akinfola said they are on ground to ensure full compliance of the strike in the state, saying by their rating on Monday the level of compliance is 70 percent and by tomorrow it will be 90 percent.

“The message is clear, the NLC and TUC are united in the demand for a new minimum wage structure that reflects the current economic realities in the country. We also want the reversal of electricity tariff”.

He commended all Labour members for complying with the instructions of the union leaders, saying Nigerians workers are suffering and Politicians keep frustrating the country, said enough is enough.

However the NLC enforcement effort by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) at the NTA motor park in Jos, Plateau state took a violent turn on Monday, leaving four individuals injured.

The incident stemmed from longstanding disputes between the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and NTA Park management over ownership of the park, dating back to the tenure of former Governor Simon Lalong.

The Plateau state vice chairman of NLC Comrade Akinfola while explaining to Journalists in Jos said tension had been brewing between the management of the park and the NURTW with the former claiming ownership of the park.

He said upon arrival, confusion ensued, and NLC officials were mistaken for NURTW members. This misunderstanding quickly escalated into violence, with NLC vehicle being pelted with stones, resulting in damage to the vehicle and injuries to four individuals with their phones lost.

The injured individuals, described as NLC members, were rushed to the hospital for treatment.

“When we got to the NTA motor park, we tend to take another different step but we have to use discretions to ask to be ascertained what really is going on. From the explanation we discovered that it’s misfortune because the institution, that’s NTA park for quite some time, almost about four or eight years ago, during the times of former governor Simon Lalong they have been having issues with NURTW and that who are the right owners of that particular place.

“After destroying our vehicle and injuring four of our members with their phones lost, We were able to speak to them and they showed their concern. They have already tendered an apology to us,” stated Ayodele, the NLC vice chairman.

Meanwhile the Jos Electricity Distribution Company JEDC has inform it customers that the current outage being experienced within our franchise States is a result of loss of power supply from the national grid.

Head, Corporate Communications of JEDC
Dr Friday Adakole Elijah in a Press Statement on Monday said the loss of power supply from the national grid occurred in the early hours at about 0219hours of today, Monday, 3rd June 2024, as a result of the ongoing strike embarked upon by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) to press for their demands.

He said they hope to restore normal power supply to their esteemed customers as soon as the grid supply is restored back to normalcy.

Our correspondent who monitored the strike action in Jos reports that the strike action has left workers, unions, and the general populace frustrated over the continued delay in addressing crucial economic issues.