Ahead of the meeting between the Federal Government and the organised labour scheduled to hold today (Monday), the Nigeria Labour Congress has said the government must meet its demands to cushion the effect of the fuel subsidy removal.
The union threatened that it would not hesitate to call out workers for industrial action, adding that it only suspended its planned strike.
It stated that the high cost of fuel was inflicting unbearable hardship on Nigerians, adding that the government must act fast with respect to providing palliatives, as the NLC said it was expecting an increase in the minimum wage from N30,000 to N150,000.
The Federal Government and labour unions met on June 5, 2023, with a resolution to reconvene on June 19 to agree on the implementation framework of the resolutions reached.
The former Speaker of the House of Representatives and current Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, who led the Government side, had disclosed this at the end of the meeting between labour and Government representatives at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
According to him, the June 5 meeting agreed on a seven-point resolution to cushion the effect of the subsidy removal on Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, on Nigerians.
The Federal Government, the TUC and the NLC to review the World Bank Financed Cash transfer scheme and propose the inclusion of low-income earners in the programme.
when contacted on Sunday to speak on the expectations of labour from the meeting the Vice President, NLC, Adewale Adeyanju, said a lot of things had been presented by Labour unions, stressing that the Government should not act funny.
Asked to state what action the NLC would take should the Government fail to give in to the demands of Labour, considering the plight currently faced by Nigerians with respect to the removal of subsidy, Adeyanju replied, “You know we only suspended our strike as a result of the need to meet on this. So the Government should know that things are becoming difficult and they should not decide to do anything funny. The strike was only suspended. It was an ultimatum that was given out and it (strike) was suspended.
Adeyanju, however, expressed optimism that the meeting would be fruitful and insisted that the NLC would not want the Government to behave funny.
On the proposal by Oil marketers for the deployment of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) at filling stations, the NLC official stated that a technical committee had been set up by the Federal Government to look into the matter.
It further urged President Bola Tinubu to ensure that borders were re-opened to ensure smooth importation and exportation of food and farm products.
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