The Federal Government team and organized labor are currently in a meeting in the Chief of Staff Conference Room at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
The purpose of the meeting is to inform the government team of the resolutions made by the organs of the two labor centers regarding the laborers’ offers and concessions made by the government.
After the meeting yesterday, the leaderships of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and the Trade Union Congress, TUC, of Nigeria, agreed to take the new government offer to their various organs for consideration in order to call off the proposed October 3 strike
Recall that President Bola Tinubu had on Sunday evening succumbed to the N35, 000, Provisional wage increment demand by labour after his initial N25, 000 approval for the average low grade worker to run for six months was rejected.
Instead, labour insisted that the provisional wage increment should be across board and run till a new minimum wage expected to be negotiated next year is put in place.
A statement issued by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris explained that some of the resolutions reached at the Sunday meeting were that, “the issues in dispute can only be resolved when workers are at work and not when they are on strike.
“Labor Unions lobbied for a greater salary award, and the Federal Government Team committed to bringing President Bola Tinubu’s attention to their proposal.
“A sub-committee to 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.
“The lingering matter of Road Transport Employees Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) and National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in Lagos State needs to be addressed urgently and Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who participated virtually, pledged to resolve the matter.
The statement read, “NLC and TUC will consider the offers by the Federal Government with a view to postponing the planned strike to allow for further consultations on implementing the resolutions above.”
In attendance are the NLC President, Joe Ajaero, his TUC counterpart, Festus Osifo, the NLC General Secretary, Emma Ugbaja, and the TUC Secretary General, Nuhu Toro, among other members of the organized labor force.
The Minister of State for Labour, Nkeiruka Onyejecha, the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, and the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, make up the government team.
