Nigeria unions suspend strike after pay promise

Trade union members display placards during a protest, in Lagos, Nigeria, Wednesday 10 November 2010

Many workers in Lagos stayed at home on Wednesday, while some joined union rallies

Nigeria - Troubled Giant

Nigeria's two largest unions have agreed to suspend their three-day strike after one day's stoppage.

Union leaders said the government had assured them the monthly minimum wage would double to $120 (£75).

But union leaders said they would meet again in a month's time to review progress on the issue.

The strike has disrupted flights and activities in schools,
offices and hospitals in major towns and cities across the oil-rich
nation.

Panic buying

The BBC's Caroline Duffield in Lagos says union leaders met as
the nationwide strike brought government offices to a halt on
Wednesday.

There has been panic buying and long queues at petrol stations amid fears of fuel shortages.

President Goodluck Jonathan reportedly pleaded with the two
unions - the Nigerian Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress - to
limit the strike to one day only, she says.

Wage Demands

Unions want the government to honour a 2009 agreement on minimum wages
This doubles the minimum wage to 18,000 naira ($120; £75) from 7,500 naira
The minimum wage has not risen for a decade
Inflation running at about 11%

Key facts, figures and dates

Union leaders were demanding that the government honour the national minimum agreement made in 2009.

Inflation has been running at double-digit rates in recent years, driven by increases in food and transportation costs.

The minimum wage has not risen for a decade.

"We go to the market with the so-called senators who take
home millions [of naira], and have to buy at the same level," Zachary
Abu, a student in the northern city of Kaduna, told the BBC's Focus on
Africa programme.

"We cannot really afford most of the basic things we need in our life."

In Lagos, the main commercial city in the south of the
country, a small rally organised by the unions went ahead on Wednesday
although many workers decided to stay at home.

A trader who watched the activists march past told AP news agency: "There's plenty of money in Nigeria.

"Nigeria has oil. Nigeria has everything... But we're just managing to survive."

Relevant pics from Flickr