The Trade Union Congress (TUC), the umbrella organization for senior civil officials, will not support the strike call made by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC).
According to Naija News, the NLC is apparently organizing a two-day warning strike for tomorrow and Wednesday to protest the federal government’s holdup in putting policies in place to ease the suffering brought on by the elimination of fuel subsidies.
The decision was made at the NEC meeting, according to NLC President Joe Ajaero, who had previously stated that a “total shutdown” could occur after 14 days.
According to the NLC, the decision was made as a result of the federal government’s “failure to dialogue with organized labor stakeholders and engage them in efforts to mitigate the effects of the removal of the gasoline subsidy on the poor masses.”
Recall that on August 3, the NLC and the TUC protested the removal of subsidies together in Abuja and state capitals.
However, the TUC voted to continue talking to the government to lessen the impact of the loss of the gasoline subsidy at its National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting on Sunday.
The proposed strike, according to the TUC source, a NEC member, is “premature,” he or she continued, adding that joining the NLC in the strike would further jeopardize the interests of the general public.
The TUC does not believe that a strike is necessary because we are still in talks with the federal government about the subject of workers’ palliatives, he added.
The TUC top member chastised the NLC leadership for stalling negotiations between Organized Labor and a team from the Federal Government headed by Femi Gbajabiamila, the President’s Chief of Staff.
According to the source, “The TUC will not be participating in the NLC’s scheduled warning strike. We are contacting the Federal Government, which is the reason. We anticipate that the government will release a palliative for federal employees as it has already released one to the states.
“When we met with the Senate, the NLC’s declaration that they lack confidence in the chief of staff to the president-led committee caused that committee to be suspended because the man (Femi Gbajabiamila) believed that if the NLC doesn’t have confidence in him, why should he be in charge of the committee when the results won’t be favorable? The committee’s work was put on hold as a result.Simon Lalong, the current Minister of Labor and Employment, is tasked with leading the government team. Interacting with us is a constant endeavor to achieve results.
“We believe that now is not the appropriate time for a strike. We will put the people at risk if you go on strike because the government always finds a way to get out of these situations.Once more, the strike debate shouldn’t be biased. Before sending out a strike notice, the two labor centers should work together to reach a consensus. No center may assert superiority over another center. It is not practiced anywhere.You can’t first declare a strike, then decide to let us in. The two centers are meant to decide on this.