NLC to protest against 50percent telecom hike, failed minimum wage implementation

In a communiqué signed by the President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Joe Ajaero, after its National Administrative Council (NAC) meeting in Abuja, yesterday, he said that, on Tuesday, February 4, 2025, NLC will embark on a nationwide protest against the planned 50 per cent increase in the telecommunication tariff.

The one-day rally and protest would take place in the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

It also threatened decisive action against state governments and other employers of labour, who failed to implement the N70,000 national minimum wage and the corresponding salary adjustments by the end of this first quarter.
“To express our collective opposition to this arbitrary tariff hike, the NLC will embark on a nationwide mass rally on Tuesday, February 4, 2025. The rally will serve as a warning on the dangers of imposing such an unfair increase on a struggling population earning a minimum wage of only N70,000; a population that has suffered outrageous hikes in the price of petrol, high cost of food, hike in electricity tariff and general rising inflation,” it said.

Congress directed all its affiliates and state councils to begin full mobilisation towards the success of the protest. It added: “All NLC affiliates and state councils are directed to begin full mobilisation in preparation for the February 4, 2025, nationwide protest rally. Willing civil society allies are also encouraged to join the preparation. Congress calls on all Nigerian workers, the informal sector and the general public to stand in solidarity against this unjust policy.”

The NAC-in-session demanded an immediate suspension of the 50 per cent tariff hike calling on the Federal Government, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the National Assembly to engage in meaningful dialogue with critical stakeholders to review the proposed tariff adjustment within the context of the economic realities facing Nigerians.

NLC described the decision to hike tariffs by 50 per cent as insensitive, unjustifiable and a direct assault on Nigerian workers and the general populace, who are already burdened by worsening economic hardship foisted on them by government policies, which was no fault of theirs.

It warned: “Should these not be heeded, NLC will escalate its actions, including the possibility of a nationwide boycott of telecommunication services and further mass actions which involve nationwide withdrawal of our service to resist policies that exacerbate poverty and inequality.”

The warning over minimum wage was given by the President of Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Mohammed Ibrahim, during the association’s National Leadership Retreat in Abuja, yesterday.
Ibrahim, who also serves as the National Internal Auditor of the NLC, emphasised that state governments and institutions delaying or manipulating wage payments would face serious consequences.

In an address to journalists, Ibrahim criticised what he called the insincerity of some state governments and employers, accusing them of merely treating the wage increase as an “award” without proper implementation.
“The national minimum wage has been signed into law, and payments should have commenced nationwide. However, in most institutions and states, what they did was just to announce a figure without truly implementing it,” he said.
He noted that the intervention of the NLC had already forced some state governments to rush into agreements, many of which he described as “kangaroo agreements that have not seen the light of day.”
Stating further, Ibrahim said ” I am happy that the NLC is not sleeping on this matter and that we have been engaging. You can see that it was only when the NLC gave the directive that any state government that refused to implement the national minimum wage should face a strike, that you started seeing different state governors rushing to sign.
“Most of them are even kangaroo agreements that have not seen the light of day.”

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