Lagos newspaper workers suspend strike

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- Printing workers of Nigeria's privately-owned Guardian newspaper have suspended their 10-day strike, which they called to press for better pay and improved conditions of service.
The suspension followed an agreement reached between the workers, represented by the local chapter of the National Union of Printing, Publishing and Paper Products Workers (NUPPPROW), and the newspaper management late Wednesday.
The meeting was brokered by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), which intervened after the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity failed in its mediation efforts.
A communiqué after the meeting said the strike was called off to allow meaningful discussion between the management of the Guardian newspapers and NUPPPROW members over outstanding issues.
The communiqué said it was also agreed that none of the workers involved in the strike should be victimised by the management, while the workers regretted their action, which has cost the newspaper an estimated 50 million naira in lost revenue (110 naira=1USD).
It was the severest strike embarked upon by workers of the Lagos-based newspaper since its inception 18 years ago.
In September 2000, the newspaper's journalists, under the aegis of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), went on a three-day work stoppage to protest poor pay.
Though the salaries of workers at the newspapers were recently increased by between 80 and 100 percent, some of the workers told PANA that these still fall short of the workers demand.
"A situation where a 1977 University graduate earns below 25,000 naira is totally unacceptable," said a journalist, who asked not to be named for fear of victimisation.
Announcing the end of the strike, NUPPPROW Chairman, Wada Philips, told the workers: "I called you out and I have now called you in.
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