May Day: Union laments on workers’ impoverishment, dehumanisation; considering a push for salary review beyond minimum wage age  

Nigerian workers celebrate May Day, also called Workers’ Day, today alongside their global counterparts.

Nigerian workers, however, have little reason to rejoice rather than celebrate. Like many other citizens, they now live in poverty as a result of their living conditions being further exacerbated by the worsening socioeconomic situation.

The Nigeria Labour Congress, or NLC, summed up the predicament of Nigerian workers by complaining that they have been under a lot of stress ever since the current administration took office.

According to NLC: “It has been one anti-worker policy after another. From last May Day to today, it has been excruciating and painful.”

“It is regrettable, but the truth is that within the capitalist system, we are continuously forced to live in a society divided into two classes: the oppressed and the oppressors; the bosses and the workers; the haves and the have-nots,” said NLC President Joe Ajaero in response to the situation. Since the last May Day celebration, things have only gotten worse.

“The struggles we face as workers and as citizens of Nigeria are immense, from neoliberal economic policies that impoverish workers to relentless attacks on labour rights.

The masses and workers are being targeted by the ruling class. They advocate poverty, exploitation, and servile wages, and they are essentially members of the same party.

Nigerian workers find themselves at a crossroads amid a worldwide attack on labour as well as a domestic crisis. With its ravenous appetite, capitalism eats up jobs, deprives labour of its dignity, and deepens the divide between rich and poor. 

It appears that the state, which is supposed to be the defender of justice, has turned into the implementer of repressive and exploitative laws that were established by the Bretton Woods organisations.

“Amidst all this, however, our movement remains the strongest and most vibrant on the African continent. We have remained united despite numerous attempts to sow division among us. 

We worked together to negotiate the National Minimum Wage and have remained steadfast in our engagements with the state.

“Even in this darkness, we find our purpose. The trade union movement was not born from comfort; it was forged in resistance. Our power does not come from the benevolence of the elite but from the unity of the exploited. We must not forget the struggle to compel the state to agree to an N70,000 National Minimum Wage, which is being implemented in breach by many state governments and even the federal government.

“The fight for the full implementation of the National Minimum Wage is ongoing across many states. We must brace ourselves to ensure that all states and the private sector comply with the law, even as we begin to push for a wage review beyond the minimum to address the widespread hardship.

“To those who still doubt: the time for hesitation is over. Every worker must awaken to the truth that our liberation will not be gifted—it must be won. We must act not only for ourselves but for future generations. The ruling class fears only one thing: our collective refusal to remain in servitude. Let us build a movement that does not merely negotiate for crumbs but demands a fair share of the bread we have baked.”