Information Minister Mohammed Idris says the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) will consider President Bola Tinubu’s government’s offers to suspend their planned strike.
On Sunday, it was announced that during a meeting between labor unions and the government, a decision was made to allow for further consultations on implementing resolutions. It was stated that this decision was reached after the unions acknowledged that the federal government had only announced a provisional wage increment of N35,000 for all treasury-paid federal government workers for a six-month period.
“Also, the federal government is committed to fast-tracking the provision of compressed natural gas (CNG) buses to ease public transportation difficulties associated with the removal of PMS subsidy. The federal government commits to the provision of funds for micro and small-scale enterprises. VAT on diesel will be waived for the next six months,” the minister explained.
Mr Idris further explained that the federal government would commence payment of N75,000 to 15 million households at N25,000 per month for three months, from October to December 2023.
The minister also stated that the meeting observed that the issues in dispute could only be resolved when workers are at work and not on strike.
Mr Idris, who was part of the meeting, revealed that the labor unions argued for a higher wage while the federal government team promised to present their requests to President Bola Tinubu for further consideration.
“A sub-committee will be constituted to work out the details of implementation of all items for consideration regarding government interventions to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal. NLC and TUC will consider the offers by the federal government with a view to suspending the planned strike to allow for further consultations on the implementation of the resolutions above,” the minister stated.
The NLC and TUC had directed their members and affiliates nationwide to begin mobilization for an indefinite strike that would commence on October 3.