- FG workers to enjoy N35, 000 wage increase
- Governors to implement wage awards for their employees
- Maritime union directs workers to resume
- Activists express displeasure
BY TIMOTHY AGBOR AND BRIGHT JACOB
The Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress have agreed to suspend for 30 days the planned indefinite nationwide strike scheduled to begin, today, Tuesday, October 3, 2023.
This followed a series of agreements reached by both the Federal Government and leadership of the labour movement at their long-drawn meeting on Monday in the State House, Abuja.
Consequently, the NLC and the TUC have directed their members through their state executives in accordance.
Workers are to resume in their offices on Tuesday morning countrywide in line with the directive suspending the proposed strike by the organised labour to protest the harsh economic conditions facing Nigerians on account of fuel subsidy removal.
The communiqué to suspend the strike was signed on the side of labour by the NLC President, Joe Ajaero; the General Secretary, Emmanuel Ugboaja; the TUC President, Festus Osifo; and the General Secretary, Nuhu Toro.
Those who signed on behalf of the Federal Government were the Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong; the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha and the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris.
The communiqué read that, “Arising from the withdrawal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit by the Federal Government and the resultant increase in the price of the commodity, the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress issued a strike notice which had elapsed and they were poised 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:
“1. The Federal Government grants a wage award of N35,000 (thirty-five thousand Naira) only to all Federal Government workers beginning from the month of September pending when a new national minimum wage is expected to have been signed into law.
“2. A minimum wage committee shall be inaugurated within one month from the date of this agreement.
“3. Federal Government suspends collection of Value Added Tax (VAT) on Diesel for six months beginning from October, 2023.
“4. The Federal Government accepts to vote N100 billion for the provision of high capacity CNG buses for mass transit in Nigeria. Provisions are also being made for initial 55,000 CNG conversion kits to kick start an auto gas conversion programme, whilst work is ongoing on state-of-the-art CNG stations nationwide. The rollout aims to commence by November with pilots across 10 campuses nationwide.
“5. The Federal Government plans to implement various tax incentive measures for the private sector and the general public.
“6. On the leadership crises rocking 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.
“7. The issue of outstanding Salaries and Wages of Tertiary Education workers in Federal-owned educational institutions is being referred to the Ministry of Labour and Employment for further engagement.
“8. The Federal Government commits to pay N25, 000 per month for three months starting from October, 2023 to 15 million households, including vulnerable pensioners.
“9. The Federal Government will increase its initiatives on subsidized distribution of fertilizers to farmers across the country.
“10. The Federal Government should urge the State Government through the National Economic Council and Governors Forum to implement wage awards for their workers. Similar consideration should also be given to local government and private sector workers.
11. The Federal Government commits to the provision of funds as announced by the President on the 1st of August broadcast to the Nation for Micro and Small Scale Enterprises. The MSMEs beneficiaries should commit to the principle of decent jobs.
“12. A joint visitation will be made to the refineries to ascertain their rehabilitation status.
“13. All parties commit to henceforth abide by the dictates of Social dialogue in all our future engagements.
“14. The NLC and TUC accept to suspend for 30 days the planned Indefinite Nationwide strike scheduled to begin, Tuesday, the 3rd of October, 2023.
“15. This Memorandum shall be filed with the relevant Court of competent jurisdiction within one (1) week as consent judgment by the Federal Government.”
Maritime union directs workers to resume
Consequently, the executive members of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria have directed their members to resume work at the nation’s seaports and oil and gas platform.
The union had earlier ordered closure of all the nation’s Seaports, Jetties, Oil & Gas platforms and Terminals in compliance with the organized labour’s directive on the indefinite strike which was to commence today.
In a statement on Monday night, President-General of MWUN, Adewale Adeyanju, said an agreement had been reached with the government and the strike would no longer hold.
He said during an emergency meeting between the Federal Government and labour leaders, the NLC and TUC jointly agreed to suspend the strike to allow for implementation of their demands.
According to Adeyanju, the National Executive Council of the NLC had directed that all its affiliate members should direct their members to return to work.
A statement signed by John Kennedy Ikemefuna, Head of Media, MWUN reads in part thus: “The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have jointly suspended the indefinite strike billed for October 3, 2023 following the removal of fuel subsidy.
“It would be recalled that the Nigeria Labour Congress had directed its affiliate member Unions across the country to mobilize and shut down the country following the refusal of government to adhere to the seven points demand made by the NLC and the TUC to ameliorate the suffering of the teeming Nigerian Workers and the impoverished masses of the country.
“The President-General of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, Adewale Adeyanju, in the same vein equally ordered that all the nation’s Seaports, Jetties, Oil & Gas platforms and Terminals be shut down accordingly for operations.
“But after the outcome of the emergency meeting summoned today, October 2, 2023, between the Federal Government and labour leaders was held, the NLC and TUC had jointly agreed to suspend the strike to allow for implementation of the NLC demands. Consequently, the National Executive Council (NEC) of the NLC had directed that all its affiliate members should direct their members to return to work tomorrow, October 3, 2023 as the planned indefinite strike has been suspended.
“Comrade Adeyanju, the Deputy President of the Nigeria Labour Congress had equally directed that all members of the Maritime sector should resume work tomorrow as instructed by the Nigeria Labour Congress.”
Nigerians have lost confidence in labour unions over inconsistency – Activists
Meanwhile, some civil rights activists have bemoaned what they termed inconsistency and compromise of Nigeria’s labour unions on their decisions on strike actions.
According to them, Nigerians are gradually losing their support for the NLC and TUC because leaders of the unions have not been able to force the Federal Government to ameliorate their suffering.
In an interview with The Point, a civil rights activist, Ayo Ologun, advised leaders of labour unions to go back to drawing board and rejig the confidence that the generality of the citizens have in them.
Ologun posited that Nigerians have lost confidence in the leadership of the unions, adding that the citizens are already taking their destinies in their hands.
“It was in this country that when the NLC declared a strike, the whole country caught a cold but the leadership of the NLC overtime has shown inconsistency, they have shown compromise. You will see situations whereby people go to bed at night, hoping to start strike action or protest the following morning, overnight, the leadership of the NLC and TUC become so compromised, only for them to issue directives the following morning that it is no longer holding.
“So, the people have lost confidence in them and that’s why you see people take their destiny in their hands. People don’t wait for TUC or NLC now to declare strike actions or protest before they do; we are now having organic protests in different parts of the country. That’s to show you that trust has been lost in the leadership of these organisations and they can only do well by going back to the drawing board to regain the confidence of the people and to rebuild trust of the people in them because whether you like it or not, they are supposed to be the architects of struggles.
“The struggle for a better Nigeria rests on the shoulders of the workers but when they have leadership that is not doing well, this is what we get. So, we hope that they will go back to the drawing board and rejig confidence, not only in the workforce they are leading, but the generality of the people,” he stated.
A public affairs analyst, Akinola Adenitan, said arrowheads of protest and agitations for public good have relaxed since President Bola Tinubu was elected, adding that the development contributed to weakening efforts by NLC, TUC and other unions to mobilise strong and sustainable struggles.