Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC Kaduna chapter Ayuba Magaji Suleiman has said that the nationwide strike was embarked on to press home their demand for a wage increase, saying that their salaries can no longer take them to the next bus stop.

This was as stranded workers in Kaduna state were locked out of their ministries, parastatals, and local government secretariats by the labour union to enforce a sit-at-home. Defiant employees who adamantly visited their workplace were not allowed entry into their working premises.

The NLC chairman said “This warning strike has a simple message, we want to telling the Federal Government that Nigerian workers and the masses are suffering. That condition is harsh.

“That people can no longer take care of their family. That standard of living is very high and our income can not take care of the demands of our families.

“Our national leaders have sent a 21 working days ultimatum to the Federal Government to do the needful. So, this is just a two-day warning strike to tell the Federal Government that we are not happy. Our salaries can no longer take us to the next bust stop, talkless of taking us home and we need an urgent solution.

“What we need want is instant and permanent solution, not to give us a bag of rice today and tomorrow I have nothing to fall back to. What we want particularly as workers is that, we need our salaries to be improved. We are in hardship and more of us are now going into poverty trap and need to be brought of this poverty, that is the simply message,” he said.

He said the labour union appreciates the Federal Government for the palliatives rolled out to cushion the effects of the subsidy, but that, is not the solution to the current economic challenges faced by workers.
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