Following their meeting with the federal government delegation on Sunday, the leaders of the country’s organized labor have decided to first speak with organizations and workers about the course of action to be taken regarding the upcoming strike action.
Recall that the federal government met with the labor leaders on Sunday in Abuja in an effort to prevent the strike action announced by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC).
The government made some concessions, according to a statement by the minister of information, Mohammed Idris, after the meeting. These concessions included the N35,000 provisional wage increment for all federal government employees who are paid by the treasury for six months, a promise to expedite the installation of compressed natural gas (CNG) buses to ease public transportation challenges brought on by the elimination of PMS subsidies, the elimination of VAT on diesel for the following six months, and communication upgrades.
The government added that for the concessions to take effect, employees must be present at their places of employment.
NLC President Joe Ajaero responded to the government’s stance by saying that they are considering the commitments made to the workforce before making a final announcement regarding whether or not to proceed with the planned strike.
He said: “I don’t have much to say than the Chief of Staff has said. We’ve been meeting and we’ve looked at almost all the issues, all the promissory notes from the government and we’ll look at how to translate them to reality and to be workable. Then we’re going to take those promises to our organs, of course you know these people here cannot just wake up and review and call off action.
“So like he said, we’re hopeful that our organs will have a look at them and give us a fresh mandate on what next to do. So it’s a simple one.”
The NLC President, Joe Ajaero, the TUC Deputy President, Dr. Tommy Etim Okon, the NLC General Secretary, Emma Ugboaja, and the TUC General Secretary, Nuhu Toro were among the members of the labor delegation present at the meeting.