The leadership of the National Assembly (NASS) and Organised Labour made up of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) held a crucial meeting on Sunday ostensibly to forestall the nationwide strike that commenced today.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports President of Senate, Godswill Akpabio; Speaker, House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abass, and other principal officers of both Chambers were present during the meeting.
Others from the executive side are the Secretary to Government of the Federation, George Akume, Ministers of Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, Finance, Wale Edun and Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris.
Also in the hall are budget and national planning minister, Atiku Bagudu, science and technology minister, Uche Nnaji, agriculture and food security minister, Aliyu Abdullahi, and Head of Service of the Federation, Folasade Yemi-Esan.
Also present, representing Organised Labour, are the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC); Comrade Joe Ajaero, President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC); Comrade Festus Osifo, and other Labour Leaders.
The meeting which held late Sunday at the Senate, was at the instance of the National Assembly Leadership, as part of efforts to forestall the effects of a nationwide strike action at this time.
At the meeting, stakeholders noting that the position of Organised Labour is valid given the general economic situation in the country, agreed on the need for on-going negotiation to continue, allowing for continuous engagement on the issue of wages.
Organised Labour gave the National Assembly Leadership a period of eight (8) weeks to engage with stakeholders from the Executive. The Labour Leaders however, declined to call off the nationwide strike action in the immediate as they requested more time to consult their respective National Executive Councils (NEC), and organs, in adherence to the Constitution of their Unions.
In his remarks, the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, cautioned, “While addressing the legitimate concerns of Organised Labour is imperative, we must be mindful that an unsustainable wage increase could trigger inflationary pressures and potentially lead to layoffs. It is crucial that our approach balances the need for fair wages with the overall economic stability of the nation.”
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, remarked: “I am sure some would recall what I said during the Independence Anniversary lecture, that one thing that this government and this country can do to eliminate corruption in the long-run is to embrace a ‘living wage.’ There are no two ways about it. But we should also be mindful that the issues of numerous decades cannot be repaired within one day. It will be a gradual process.”
Among other resolutions reached at the meeting; the Federal Government committed to the immediate implementation of all previous agreements with Labour as authorised by the President. These agreements include the recent Wage Award announced by President Bola Tinubu and the bonus implemented by Government as negotiated by the previous Administration (Amounting to N72,000).
Government further committed to expediting the ongoing nationwide roll-out of conversion to LNG-operated vehicles and address all challenges relating to the supply chain to bring immediate succor on transportation to Nigerian workers.
The leadership of the National Assembly was asked to engage and brief the President on the position of Labour and the need to consider a marginal increase in the interim, to accommodate the position of Labour.
Organised Labour were also charged to deepen advocacy with State Governments and organised private sector to ensure viability and sustainability of the anticipated minimum wage increase.
Strike: Senate urges FG to continue payment of N35,000 wage award
Meanwhile, the Senate has urged the Federal Government to continue the payment of N35,000 wage award to workers, following the yet to be concluded negotiations on minimum wage.
President of Senate, Godswill Akpabio said this at the end of a four hour closed door meeting with leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and some Ministers over planned industrial action by the union.
Akpabio also appealed to the union to shelve the proposed strike action in the interest of Nigerians and the nation.
“We have been making appeal and asked the NLC and TUC to shelve the proposed strike and return to the negotiating table to resolve the issue.
“I appeal that the strike be suspended for negotiations to continue in the interest of Nigerians and the nation.”
Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris, said that government’s position on the wage award was that it should continue the payment until the negotiations for the minimum wage is concluded.
“The position of Government is that the Federal Government will continue to pay its workers the wage award of N35,000 that was started in Oct 2023 until a new wage regime is instituted.”
He said he was optimistic that labour would suspend the proposed strike, following the lengthy conversation with the leadership of the National Assembly, organised labour and the federal government delegation.
He said that Nigeria could not afford strike at this moment given the challenges faced on the economy.
Idris said all hands must be on deck to ensure prosperity of the nation as strike was not the best option at this point.
“And we have pleaded with labour to see reasons with the Federal Government and everybody while the strike cannot continue in the interest of every body.”
The minister said that government was sensitive to the demand of labour and called on the unions to see reasons to heed to the request of government.
He said that Nigeria could not afford the payment of N9.5 trillion additional financial burden based on labours” demand of N494,000 demand made by labour as minimum wage for workers.
However, President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Mr Festus Osifo said both parties were aware of what the issues were.
He said the leadership of the union did do have power to call off the strike, saying that there were processes involved in suspension of an industrial action.
“We have listened to them, we will take the request of the National Assembly leadership to our organs, because we don’t have power to call off strike.
“The power to call off strikes lies with our organs, who would sit to decide.”