NLC, TUC Suspend Nationwide Strike As FG Suspends New Electricity Tariff For Two Weeks
NLC, TUC initially insisted that strike will begin on Monday.
Labour leaders revealed earlier that the negotiation between workers and the federal government to prevent the industrial action failed.
Following their meeting with Femi Gbajabiamila, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have refused to suspend their planned nationwide strike.
The leaders of the labour unions had announced their readiness to stage protests and embark on a nationwide strike on Monday, September 28, 2020, if the government fails to revert the hikes.
Before the meeting, Gbajabiamila had urged the labour leaders to suspend the industrial action.
But the President of the NLC, Ayuba Wabba, and his TUC counterpart Quadri Olaleye have decried the federal government’s reluctance to revert the price hikes in petroleum and electricity tariff.
Speaking after the meeting with Gbajabiamila on Saturday, Wabba said, “all the actions pronounced will be taken as the notice expires tomorrow”.
The NLC president commended the Speaker for intervening in the crisis between the workers and the government.
He said, “We also told him how the meeting with federal government went and how the meeting was adjourned and he has promised to also intervene at his own level to see that we don’t inflict more pains on Nigerians.
“In the course of the discussion, we have also realised that the house of representatives has done a lot on the issue including recommendations which they have shared mutually.”
Wabba also insisted that the organised labour has not received any court order stopping them from staging protests and embarking on strike action to press home their demands
The strike and protests against hikes in petrol price and electricity tariff were supposed to kick off on Monday, September 28.
However, hours after midnight, a truce was reached between organised labour and the federal government.
New electricity prices will now be suspended for two weeks.
Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo says: “federal government and labour reach agreement at 2:53am.
for more stories like this, visit www.nigerianecho.com.ng
“Deregulation to stay as government rolls out palliatives for labour (details in 2 weeks); Electricity tariffs suspended by govt for 2 weeks with a joint committee headed by @fkeyamo to examine the justification for the new policy.
The federal government had said it can no longer afford to pay for petrol subsidy, which amounts to close to a trillion Naira annually; and that it no longer makes economic sense to subsidise a privatised power sector.
A deregulated petroleum industry means that the price of gasoline at the pumps will be determined by market forces and international price of crude.
Petrol had gone from N145/liter to N162/liter in the first week of September, amid worsening economic conditions for Nigerians, no thanks to the coronavirus pandemic.