TUC withdraws from two-day nationwide strike

Following an agreement reached with the Federal Government, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) has announced pulling out of the ongoing two-day nationwide warning industrial action embarked upon by Organised Labour lad by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).

The two-day strike action which kicked off Tuesday, September 5 runs through to Wednesday, 6 and is intended as a warning to the Federal Government in protest over what it called the latter’s reluctance to address ‘the hardship Nigerians go through since the removal of fuel subsidy.’

According to the NLC, which directed its affiliate members via an announcement last Friday, to commence on strike, the action is a warning to the Federal Government in protest over what it called the latter’s reluctance to address ‘the hardship Nigerians go through since the removal of fuel subsidy.’

NLC, through its National President, Joe Ajaero, further disclosed that it has also directed its members to  ‘embark on a total and indefinite shutdown of the nation within 14 working days or 21 days until steps are taken by the Government to address the excruciating mass suffering and impoverishment being experienced around the country.’

However, hours after the announcement, NLC’s sister union, the TUC it has now agreed to give the Federal Government two weeks to address some of its grievances instead of joining the NLC in ithe two-day warning strike.

Making the disclosure, Monday, Minister of Labour and Employment, Solomon Lalong, said the agreement was reached after his meeting with the leadership of TUC, led by its President, Comrade Festus Osifo.

The meeting was convened by the Minister to resolve TUC’s and Nigeria Labour Congress’ differences with government and to avert the pending warning strike by organised labour.

According to Lalong, the issues for which a two-week timeline was set for their resolution include wage award for federal civil servants to cushion the effect of rising poverty among them, and tax exemption for a certain level of workers, both in the public and private sectors.

The other issues on the two-week timeline are to put structures in place to ensure effective implementation of the palliatives declared by the Federal Government for the states and the FCT, and to set out the modalities for accessing the N70 billion proposed for the funding of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), among others.

The Minister declared that after the two weeks, the meeting would reconvene for further discussions, and added that the parties understood that some of the issues were urgent, while some would require a long span of time to resolve.

According to Lalong, the parties also agreed that there would be no strike within this peace period of two weeks “while we are doing deliberations and also working towards realising some of these objectives.”

The President of the TUC, Comrade Festus Osifo, stated that the two-week timeline was reasonable, as it would give government ample time to address the issues.

He disclosed that at the commencement of the meeting, the leadership of TUC was pushing for a one-week timeline for the resolution of issues in dispute, but had to reconsider after weighing governments constraints, stating, “We also need to be pragmatic.”

Osifo stated that their demands, as contained in a communiqué earlier issued by the Congress, include resolving the impasse between Lagos State Government and Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), increasing the amount provided for palliative as the sum of N5billion allocated per state is inadequate to ameliorate the sufferings of Nigerians.

It would be recalled that, earlier, Monday, the minister had appealed to the Organised labour to shelve its two-day nationwide warning strike and give the Federal Government more time to settle into office.

Speaking, Lalong, said the strike if it carried out ‘would be detrimental to the gains already being recorded on our course to securing a greater future for Nigerian workers and citizens at large.’

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) had announced, last Friday, after its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of its resolve to embark on the two-day industrial action to draw attention of government to the plight of the Nigerian masses which it said was in dire condition over poor economic policies of the President Bola Tinubu administration.

However, the Minister in his press briefing, urged the Labour to suspend its intended 2-day warning strike, as he requested the NLC to give ‘this Government some time to settle and address the issues on the ground holistically.’

He said that the cabinet of the present administration was only recently sworn in by President Bola Tinubu and all members have hit the ground running by receiving briefings from their MDAs.

“Therefore, the issues raised by the leadership of the NLC are some issues that I and the Hon. Minister of State for Labour and Employment are being briefed upon. In the next few weeks, we intend to address them holistically.

“Consequently, I use this opportunity to reassure Nigerian workers that this government would never take them for granted nor fail to appreciate their support and understanding.

“We shall continue to pursue policies aimed at massive employment generation in all sectors of the economy as well as look into immediate challenges that have emerged out of the policies of government. We cannot do this in an atmosphere devoid of industrial peace.”

The Minister also said that he is yet to receive official communication of the NLC Communiqué following its National Executive Council Meeting, as required by the law.