The strike is quite timely, says TUC
Chairman of Trade Union Congress (TUC) Enugu State chapter, Comrade Igbokwe Chukwuma Igbokwe, has said that there was no better or best time for Organized Labour to embark on a strike than the on-going one. Reacting to the nationwide strike declared by the organized labour over the N65,000 minimum wage demanded by labour, Igbokwe said […]
Chairman of Trade Union Congress (TUC) Enugu State chapter, Comrade Igbokwe Chukwuma Igbokwe, has said that there was no better or best time for Organized Labour to embark on a strike than the on-going one.
Reacting to the nationwide strike declared by the organized labour over the N65,000 minimum wage demanded by labour, Igbokwe said that Labour had to embark on the strike as the government was pussy-footing with the proposed minimum wage.”
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According to him, the strike is often a last resort when negations and dialogues fail between the organised labour and the government, noting that the labour gave enough time for the government to come up with an acceptable new minimum wage before embarking on the strike.
Igbokwe said “There is no time that is good or bad for strike to take place. Strike is not premeditated. We employ strike when we have no other option; it is applied as a last resort.
“Somebody is in a negotiation for seven months and you have not even said we are paying this or that. Labour initially said N56,000 and later changed to N65,000 but government has not said anything.”
Alleging that the government was not sincere about the implementation of the minimum wage, Igbokwe blamed the Minister of Labour, Dr. Chris Ngige who “was not sincere about government position on the minimum wage,” stressing that government “is using the minimum wage as a ploy to forestall strike by the organized labour before the 2019 general elections.”
On the compliance to the nationwide strike in Enugu State, Igbokwe said there was 60 per cent compliance, pointing out that he believed that by tomorrow, today, having sensitized the workers, the strike would be total and complete.
“The first day is always the day for sensitization, so you don’t expect total compliance. We have done that this morning, yesterday, and I assure you that by tomorrow, today, there will be total compliance. The strike must continue unless our national leadership say otherwise.