The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) have begun the nationwide strike they first announced a week ago, with affiliate unions joining the industrial action.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday morning, the NLC shared circulars by the unions, indicating their compliance with the directive.
The unions included the National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees (NUBIFIE), the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria, and the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Polytechnics (SSANIP).
Others are the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), the National Union of Food Beverage and Tobacco Employees, the Maritime Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MWUN), the National Union of Electricity Employees, and the Nigeria Union of Railway Workers.
The strike comes on the heels of the physical assault NLC National President Joe Ajaero was subjected to in Imo State two weeks ago when he and other NLC members were in the South-East state for a demonstration over “non-payment of salaries and pensions for 44 months and violation of other labour rights.
Meanwhile, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has condemned an online report attributed to its Head of Public Affairs that there would be a national blackout on account of the ongoing nationwide labour strike, describing the report as false and totally misleading.
In a statement by its management on Tuesday, the company also said the report was “mischievous and baseless adding that TCN, through the Public Affairs Head, did not make such statement.
According to the comapany the nation’s grid is intact and supplying bulk electricity to distribution load centers nationwide.
The company added that the TCN National Control Centre Osogbo which controls bulk power transmission nationwide, is actively operational.
