May 14, 2026
Joe Ajaero, NLC president
B Victor Ahiuma-Young
The 2026 May Day celebration, marked less by festivity and more by confrontation, saw the labour movement draw a hard line against what it described as a widening assault on workers’ rights, warning that worsening insecurity and deepening poverty have made “decent work” increasingly unattainable for millions.
The two central labour organisations, the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, among others, accused both government and private sector employers of systematically undermining labour protections, including the failure to fully implement the 2024 National Minimum Wage Act and repeated interference in union autonomy.
