ABUJA, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Nigerian government Thursday said the late night meeting with organized labor on the minimum wage did not end in a deadlock.
Minister of Labor and Employment Chris Ngige, who confirmed this to reporters in Abuja, Nigeria's capital, described the meeting as successful.
The minister met with labor leaders who were part of a tripartite committee on the new national minimum wage to give them an update on THE government's position.
Ngige told reporters that both the government team led by himself and the leadership of the organized labor agreed to reconvene the meeting of the National Minimum Wage Committee on Oct. 4.
This is to give enough time for the National Salaries Incomes and Wages Commission to round off the assignment given to it, he added.
However, local media reported on Thursday the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), one of the major labor unions, has directed all its members and affiliate unions to commence a nationwide strike on Thursday.
Xinhua reporters found the organized labor on Thursday shut down offices of aviation agencies at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport of Lagos to press home their demands for the implementation of new Minimum wage.
However, this action did not affect flight operations at the nation's busiest airport as airlines and passengers went about their respective businesses without harassment from the unions.
The union members had at the early hours of Thursday barricaded the offices of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA).
Also shut down were the headquarters of the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) at the Lagos airport.
However, in most parts of the country, government offices remained open in spite of the nationwide strike by the labor over new national minimum wage.
Civil servants, the business community and schools were all open in northeast Yobe state.
A Xinhua reproter in northern Kaduna said workers were at their duty posts.
Also opened were schools, some banks including the Central Bank of Nigeria, hospitals and other public sector offices in the state capital.
Labor union leaders are asking the federal government to raise the national minimum wage from 18,000 naira (50.07 U.S. dollars) to 56,000 naira, citing the current economic realities, especially the high rate of inflation in the country.
The 18,000-naira minimum wage was approved when the naira was exchanging at 145 naira to the dollar, and it has been unchanged for over eight years.
The naira now stands at around 360 to the dollar on the parallel market.
The labor leaders had on Sept. 12 warned the government against foot-dragging on the new minimum wage, urging it to allow a tripartite committee on minimum wage to conclude its job to avoid action.
Nigerian President Muhammdu Buhari in November 2017 approved the appointment of the 30-member tripartite National Minimum Wage Committee for the negotiation of a new minimum wage.
The committee is made up of representatives from the worker unions, employer organizations, and the central and state governments.
