NLC: Why we suspended planned strike over naira scarcity

NLC President, Joe Ajaero

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has revealed the reasons behind the suspension of its planned strike scheduled to commence on Wednesday, March 29 over the scarcity of naira notes.

The NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) had, on Tuesday, announced the suspension of the planned nationwide strike.

Speaking on the development via a statement issued on Wednesday, the NLC President, Joe Ajaero, said the planned industrial action was suspended following significant improvement in the availability of naira notes across the country.

Ajaero, however, noted that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) should ensure that total normalcy is restored to cash availability across Nigeria in the next two weeks, saying the NLC will embark on a nationwide strike without warning if the naira scarcity persists.

He added that the NLC and TUC had set up a joint committee at the national and state levels to monitor and ensure sustainable compliance by the CBN toward ending the scarcity of naira notes across the country.

The NLC President stated: “As a function of the reports received, and in collaboration with the TUC who also had their NEC to discuss the same issues; we resolved as follows:

“to suspend the proposed nationwide strike planned for today, Wednesday the 29th of March, 2023. Since there is significant improvement in the availability of Cash across the nation;

“that meanwhile, the CBN should ensure that total normalcy is restored to cash availability within the nation in the next two weeks;

“that NLC will embark on nationwide strike without warning if the Cash situation degenerates instead of returning to normalcy;

“Finally, we set up a Joint Committee at the National and State Levels to monitor and ensure sustainable compliance by the CBN towards ending the cash crunch and removing the siege on Nigerians.

“These were some of the bases upon which our decisions rested and follow-up action to ensure that CBN remains compliant and not renege on the agreed path towards the restoration of normalcy in the cash situation.”

Ajaero, therefore assured Nigerians that though there are other critical issues confronting the citizens, “we are continuously committed to making sure that we roll back all anti-workers and peoples policies of the government.”

The Star