Minimum wage: Travellers stranded at Lagos Airport as Labour strike begins

Intending travellers have been left stranded as all entry points into the domestic terminal of Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) are currently inaccessible.

The entry points to the airport were blocked due to the industrial action called by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), as a result, all flight operations from the airport have been suspended.

A video circulating online shows passengers lamenting their inability to access the airport.

Organised labour declared a nationwide strike over a proposed new minimum wage after a meeting between the tripartite of Labour, Organised Private Sector (OPS) and the Federal Government failed to reach an agreement on a new minimum wage and the reversal of the recent hike in electricity tariffs.

Meanwhile, the federal government had appealed to organised labour to reconsider its planned indefinite strike set to commence today, Monday, June 3.

While the unions are pushing for a new minimum wage of N494,000, the Nigerian government is offering N60,000.

The FG, through the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, says the sum of N494,000 national minimum wage being demanded by organised labour, which cumulatively amounts to the sum of N9.5 trillion, is capable of destabilising the economy and jeopardising the welfare of over 200 million Nigerians.

In a last-minute effort to avert the strike, leaders of the National Assembly met with representatives of organised labour yesterday. However, the meeting ended in a deadlock, with labour unions insisting on going ahead with the strike.

Speaking after the meeting, TUC President Comrade Festus Osifo said that the strike could not be called off without consulting union members.

“It is difficult and in fact impossible for us as labour leaders to call off the strike here. We need to communicate with our various organs, meaning that the industrial action starts on Monday as planned.”