The Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, and the Trade Union Congress, TUC, have suspended the planned nationwide strike that was slated for Wednesday, 7th, June, 2023 over the removal of subsidy by President Tinubu. This followed the outcome of the meeting between the labour leaders and the Federal Government after a long day of negotiation yesterday. Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, disclosed this to the newsmen, saying that the agreement reached was for the NLC and TUC to form a committee that would propose a wage increase instead as well as establish a timeline for its implementation.
According to the communiqué signed at the end of the meeting, “The Federal Government, the TUC and the NLC would review the World Bank Financed Cash transfer scheme and propose the inclusion of low-income earners in the programme”. NLC and TUC had earlier informed its member to proceed on nationwide industrial action on Wednesday, 7th June.
However, the National Industrial Court has restrained the labour union from proceeding with strike action.
Exactly a week ago, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPCL, released a price review for the PMS in Nigeria where it jacked the price from N197 to as high as N557 in far northeastern states.
The Chief of staff also disclosed that the meeting with labour has also discussed issues bordering on the poor performance of our education where proposed solutions to fixing it were highlighted.
Gbajabiamila explained, “The Federal Government provides a framework for the maintenance of roads and expansion of rail networks across the country.
“All other demands submitted by the TUC to the Federal Government will be assessed by the joint committee.”
Meanwhile, he reiterated that the NLC has accepted to suspend the planned industrial action to give room for further consultations.
The resolution of the meeting was all agreed upon by the labour leaders and their secretaries as well as the permanent secretary to the Ministry of Labour and Employment, MS Kachollom Daju.