Minimum Wage: NLC Announces Nationwide Protest

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has scheduled a nationwide protest for Wednesday, 10 March over moves by the National Assembly to remove the Minimum Wage from the Exclusive List to the Concurrent List.

Naija News understands the removal will allow state governments to determine what they want to pay their workers without regard to the national minimum wage.

The NLC and its allies have however rejected such plans and have scheduled a protest to drive home their claims.

According to a statement on Tuesday from the NLC headquarters in Abuja, the protest will start from the Unity Fountain Abuja at 7:30 am and proceed to the National Assembly complex.

President of NLC, Ayuba Wabba, said the bill before the lawmakers is an attempt to undermine the working class and they would not watch “hard-fought rights which are global standards bastardised by opportunistic and narrow – thinking politicians.”

The NLC boss added that should the need arise, a national strike would be declared if the legislators refuse to drop the proposal to move minimum wage issues from the exclusive legislative list to the concurrent legislative list.

“The NEC decided that there will be a national protest action commencing from March 10, 2021, in the Federal Capital Territory and especially to the National Assembly.

“The NEC decided that should the need arise, it has empowered the National Administrative Council of the NLC to declare and enforce a national strike action, especially if the legislators continue on the ruinous path of moving the national minimum wage from the exclusive legislative list to the concurrent legislative list,” Wabba noted.