Nigeria loses power and major airports close as unions demand a more than 1,500% increase in the minimum wage amid record inflation.
Nigeria’s main unions have shut down the national power grid and halted flights across the country as they began an indefinite strike following the government’s failure to agree on a new minimum wage.
The strike is the fourth called by the Nigerian Labor Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), two of the country’s largest trade union federations, since President Bola Tinubu took office last year.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) said on Monday that union members chased operators out of electrical control rooms and shut down at least six substations, ultimately shutting down the national grid at 2:19 a.m. (0119 GMT).
Nigerian airline Ibom Air said it was suspending flights until further notice due to the strike, while another, United Nigeria, said the country’s airports had been closed and strikers would not had authorized any of its flights to operate.
The electricity and aviation unions said in a statement that they had ordered their members to withdraw their services in line with the indefinite strike.
“We demand a living wage,” the NLC said on X. It and the TUC represent hundreds of thousands of civil servants in key sectors.
The unions want the current minimum monthly wage of 30,000 naira ($20) to be increased to almost 500,000 naira ($336). The government offered 60,000 naira ($40).
The unions’ demand would increase the government’s wage bill by 9.5 trillion naira ($6.3 billion), which could “destabilize the economy”, Information Minister Mohammed Idris said.
Since coming to power, Tinubu has embarked on reforms that have fueled inflation, propelling it to its highest level in nearly 30 years, and deepening the cost of living crisis in the country’s most populous country. ‘Africa.
He came under pressure from unions to offer help to households and small businesses after removing gasoline subsidies, which previously kept fuel cheap but cost the government $10 billion a year .
Unions declared an indefinite strike on Friday after negotiations on a new minimum wage failed. They said the strike would last until a new minimum wage was in place.
The TCN said it was making efforts to recover and stabilize the national grid, but unions were obstructing the recovery of the nationwide grid.
Unions also demanded the reversal of the electricity tariff hike that took effect last month for wealthier consumers who use the most electricity, as the government tries to wean the economy off subsidies.
