Last minutes efforts made by the Nigerian government to persuade the organized labour comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trace Union Congress (TUC), to abandon their planned nationwide strike scheduled for October 3rd, was rejected by leaders of the two unions as both unions boycotted an emergency meeting called by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong recently.
According to the unions, the planned nationwide strike is aimed at prevailing on the Federal Government to tackle perceived insensitivity to the plights of Nigerians as a result of the removal of petrol subsidy and constant demonstration of unwillingness and complete lack of initiative.
The unions also accused the Federal Government of refusing to “meaningfully engage and reach agreements with organized labour on critical issues of the consequences of the unfortunate hike in the price of petrol, which has unleashed massive suffering on Nigeria workers and masses.”
Lalong, on behalf of the Federal Government, invited the leaders of both unions for an emergency meeting scheduled for 3 p.m. on Friday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, to persuade them to abandon the proposed plan and give the government more time to meet with their demands.
Meanwhile, the efforts of the Federal Government yielded no result as leaders of the two unions reportedly shunned the meeting with the excuse that government’s invitation arrived late as they had scheduled engagements outside the federal capital.
According to reports, the NLC and its TUC counterpart received the government’s invitation on Friday morning through the Ministry of Labour and Employment and based on the short notice, could not get across to all its leaders across the country to proceed to Abuja for the meeting.
On September 26, the organized notified the government of its intention to begin an indefinite strike on October 3 to protest the cost of living crisis after the removal of petrol subsidy by President Bola Tinubu during his inauguration on May 29, 2023.
Also, the unions directed their state chapters and affiliates to mobilize for a shutdown of critical facilities and infrastructure like airports, seaports, electricity grids and fuel supply nationwide.
In a statement by the National Deputy President of the TUC, Tommy Etim, the union insisted that there was no going back on the industrial action.
Part of the statement read: “It’s going to be a total shutdown until the government meets the demand of Nigerian workers, and in fact, Nigerian masses.”
The unions also accused the government of attempting to blackmail and arm twist its leaders by resorting to threats of an existing court order to threaten them.
The claim followed Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi’s warning that the proposed strike contravenes a subsisting court order restraining the unions from announcing an industrial action.
The statement insisted that the unions leaders would not succumb to any threat by the government, noting that they were ready to go to prison in their fight for better lives for Nigerian workers.
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