In order to decide whether to proclaim a complete closure of the economy, members of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) from all 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have finalised plans to meet on Tuesday.
This comes as Simon Lalong, the minister of labour and employment, has once again pleaded with organised labour to refrain from planning an indefinite strike that would cripple the nation’s economy, claiming that he has already met one of the Congress’ most important requests.
The minister reiterated his appeal to organised labour and stated that the government would shortly announce the new wage award for workers. He advised the NLC to give little notice rather than cause the economy to crash.
“We are still working on our roles. The federal government has not delegated its tasks and duties in guaranteeing a calm workplace, and it has pleaded with the NLC to give the problems a little time to be handled.
“As you may remember, the release of the imprisoned and detained NURTW executive members was one of the NLC delegation’s top two priorities when they arrived. The wage award is the second.
The honourable minister fulfilled the first promise he made to them. Last week, he paid two personal visits to the Inspector-General of Police’s office and obtained the release of the arrested NURTW employees.
“In reality, today (Monday), the released officers came to the ministry to thank the two ministers because two of them jointly visited the IGP, led by their Chairman, Tajudeen Baruwa.
Therefore, the federal government is requesting a few extra weeks from the labour movement by contacting them. Regarding the second issue, the wage award, a statement would be made, according to Oshundun, who spoke to our correspondent.
Following the expiration of a deadline provided to the federal government to address all concerns on the removal of gasoline subsidies, the NLC will decide to embark on an indefinite strike at an emergency meeting.
According to the Daily Trust, the organised labour threatened to start a complete and indefinite shutdown of the nation within 21 days if the demands put out to the government weren’t met during its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting on August 31.
However, the national leadership of the NLC called on all of its affiliates and the State chapters to join in the “crucial emergency meeting” in a new notice for another emergency meeting issued by the NLC General Secretary, Emmanuel Ugboaja.
“Fraternal greetings from the Congress headquarters, I bring you. You are cordially welcomed to the following Nigeria Labour Congress emergency national executive council virtual meeting: Tuesday, September 26th, 2023. The time on the notification was 12:00 noon.
