n light of the recently planned October 3, 2023 national strike that was called off by the NLC and TUC, let us examine the 1964 general strike and the Morgan Commission for lessons that might help Nigerian workers carry out successful general strikes in future. The Morgan Commission was the product of the 1963 general strike.
The workers went on a general strike on September 27, 1963 and the Federal government capitulated a few days later and set up the Morgan commission. The terms of reference Morgan Commission included the investigation of the existing wage structure, remuneration and conditions of service in wage-earning employments in the country.
Some workers were injured and many were arrested. The 1964 general strike began on the next day. Millions of workers participated in the general strike nationwide. The Prime Minister, Sir Abubaka Tafewa Balewa, ordered the workers back to work. The striking workers ignored the order. The workers’ response was to continue the strike. Private sector workers joined the strike in large number. On June 10th, the Federal State threatened to dismiss all striking workers and deny them all their pension rights. It issued queries to 10,000 striking workers. Private sector employers gave a similar ultimatum on June 12th. Some of the companies carried out the threat. For instance, Union Trading Company dismissed 1,000 workers on June 12, 1964, for participating in the strike.
Minimum monthly wages of £10.0 were set for workers in Zone 1 and all workers in the private sector. In Zone two, the monthly minimum wage rate was fixed at £8.125. The range of the monthly minimum wages in the 4 northern Nigerian Zones were increased from £4.0-£6.0 to £5.2-£8.0. All minimum wage rates in the country were made applicable to workers employed by Voluntary Agencies, States bodies and Parastatal .
The unions had a strong, well prepared negotiation team. They not only prepared for the general strike, they prepared for the resulting negotiations.The trade unions mobilised, not only their members for the general strike, but also the whole of the general Nigerian civil society. The Micheal Imoudu led pre-strike Lagos demonstration was designed to mobilize civil society and public sentiment
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