In a late-night development, Organized Labour has announced the suspension of its planned nationwide strike for a one-month period after reaching an agreement with the Federal Government. The details of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that led to the suspension were not immediately available as of the time of this report, but it was gathered that the agreement was reached in the late hours of the night.
The meeting between representatives of the government and organized labour was reconvened to find common ground and avert the planned strike, which was intended to compel the government to address the hardships faced by Nigerians due to the removal of petrol subsidies.
Earlier in the day, the National Executive Council (NEC) of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) had separate meetings to review the government’s offers made on Sunday.
Reports indicate that following the separate NEC meetings, leaders of the NLC and TUC established a committee to harmonize their resolutions in order to reach a common agreement.
Sources reveal that the joint resolution of the NLC and TUC was presented to the government team at around 5 pm. However, the meeting did not reconvene until 8.15 pm, leading to frustration among labour leaders who had almost left the venue in anger.
Recall that on Sunday evening, President Bola Tinubu agreed to a provisional wage award of N35,000, following labour’s initial rejection of his proposal of N25,000 for the average low-grade worker for a six-month period. Labour insisted that the wage award should be universal and remain in effect until a new minimum wage, expected to be negotiated next year, is established.
A statement issued by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, outlined some of the resolutions reached during Sunday’s meeting. These include:
- The belief that the issues in dispute can only be resolved when workers are at work and not during a strike.
- Commitment by the Federal Government Team to present Labour’s request for higher wage awards to President Bola Tinubu for further consideration.
- The establishment of a sub-committee to work out the implementation details of all items concerning government interventions to mitigate the impact of fuel subsidy removal.
- Urgent attention needed to address the ongoing dispute between the Road Transport Employees Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) and the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in Lagos State, with Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, pledging to resolve the matter.
- The NLC and TUC will review the offers made by the Federal Government with the intention of suspending the planned strike, allowing for further consultations on the implementation of the aforementioned resolutions.
The organized labour team was represented by NLC President Joe Ajaero, TUC President Festus Osifo, NLC General Secretary Emma Ugbaja, TUC Secretary-General Nuhu Toro, among others. On the government team were National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu, Minister of Finance Wale Edun, Minister of Information and National Orientation Mohammed Idris, and Minister of State for Labour Nkeiruka Onyejecha.
