NLC strike: FG appeals for 2 weeks to finalise demands

The Federal Government has appealed to the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) for a period of two weeks to finalise the Organised Labour demands.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong, made the appeal while addressing journalists at end of a closed-door meeting with the Trade Union Congress (TUC) in Abuja on Monday, September 4, 2023.

Lalong said the meeting was called to avert the proposed nationwide warning strike by the NLC.

It would be recalled that the NLC had said it would embark on a two-day nationwide warning strike from Tuesday, September 5 to September 6 over hardship in the country following the removal of fuel subsidy.

The NLC officials were however absent at the meeting called by the minister.

The Federal Government had earlier appealed to NLC to suspend the proposed two-day warning nationwide strike.

READ ALSO: ‘Give us time to settle’: FG begs NLC to shelve planned strike

Lalong, however, said the government would address the issues within the period of two weeks and come back for further discussion.

The minister said: “Some of the issues we discussed are those that are very urgent. There are some that will require a long span of time. This was the basis of our discussion.

“We agreed that there should be no strike within the two-week period while we are doing our deliberations and working towards realising some of these objectives.”

On his part, the TUC President, Festus Osifo, said some of the issues requiring urgent attention include the implementation of palliatives and wage awards.

He said others are tax exemptions and allowances to public sector workers; modalities for N70 billion Small and Medium Enterprises, and RTEAN crisis.

Osifo stated: “In the palliatives that were rolled out we have not seen anything put in place for federal workers.

“We need a wage award. The palliatives rolled out by the government are not far-reaching. We believe that the government can do much more.”

Osifo added that the TUC leadership would continue to engage with the Federal Government to ensure that its demands are addressed.

The Star