NLC, TUC suspend planned Oct. 3 strike, reach agreement with FG

Organised labour in the country, comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and its sister group, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have announced suspension of their industrial action slated to commence from October 3, after reaching an agreement with the federal Government, Monday.

The Organised Labour announced in a communiqué issued on the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) reached between the Federal Government, the NLC and the TUC over disputes arising from the withdrawal of subsidy on pump price of imported Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also called petrol.

The parties to the communiqué also committed to a joint visitation to the petroleum refineries to ascertain their rehabilitation status.

They further agreed that all parties will henceforth abide by the dictates of Social dialogue in all future engagements.

The organized Labour and the Government representatives also approved that the mutually signed Memorandum shall be filed with the relevant Court of competent jurisdiction within one (1) week as consent judgment by the Federal Government.

Following the withdrawal of subsidy on petrol by the Federal Government on May 29 and the resultant increase in the pump price of the commodity, the NLC and the TUC issued a strike notice which had elapsed.

The unions further affirmed its position to embark on a strike billed to commence on Tuesday, the 3rd of October, 2023.

Consequently, a meeting was called by the Federal Government to avert the strike and after much discussion, the following agreements were reached:

“The Federal Government grants a wage award of N35,000 (thirty-five thousand Naira) only to all Federal Government workers beginning in September pending when a new national minimum wage is expected to have been signed into law.”

The NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, Comrade Emmanuel Ugboaja, TUC President Comrade (Engr) Festus Osifo and Comrade Nuhu A. Toro Secretary General signed on behalf of the Organised Labour.

While on the Federal Government team the Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong, Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Hon. Dr Nkeiruka Onyejeocha And the  Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mallam Mohammed Idris signed the communiqué.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government and organised labour have agreed to set up a minimum wage committee which is to be inaugurated within one month from October 2nd, the date of the agreement.

The parties committed to the agreement after a two-day meeting held between the leadership of the Nigeria Labor Congress and the Trade Union Congress at the State House Abuja.

The meeting, which is a follow-up on the one held on Sunday, indicated organised Labour’s final decision on the government’s offers present at the previous day’s engagement.

As part of the compromise and resolutions achieved after the meetings, the Federal Government suspended the collection of Value Added Tax (VAT) on Diesel for six months beginning in October 2023.

The Nigerian Government also accepts to vote of N100 billion for the provision of high-capacity CNG buses for mass transit in Nigeria while plans are also ongoing to provide the initial 55,000 CNG conversion kits to kick start an autogas conversion programme, whilst work is ongoing on state-of-the-art CNG stations nationwide.

The consensus among the parties is that the rollout will begin in November with pilot schemes across 10 campuses nationwide.

The Federal Government plans to implement various tax incentive measures for the private sector and the general public.

On the leadership crises affecting the NURTW and the purported proscription of RTEAN, the Federal Government commits to handling Labour matters in line with relevant ILO Conventions and Nigerian Labour Acts.

A resolution of the ongoing impasse is expected by or before October 13.

The issue of outstanding Salaries and Wages of Tertiary Education workers in Federal-owned educational institutions was referred to the Ministry of Labour and Employment for further engagement.

The Federal Government further committed to pay N25,000 per month for three months beginning from October 2023 to 15 million households, including vulnerable pensioners.

The Nigerian government also said that it would increase its initiatives on the subsidized distribution of fertilizers to farmers across the country.