FG, Organised Labour Agree to Suspend Indefinite Strike for 30 Days

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC have agreed to suspend the indefinite strike action slated to commence today Tuesday, October 3, for 30 days following a memorandum of understanding reached with the Federal government.

In exchange for suspending the indefinite strike action, the Federal government will strictly adhere to and fulfil the terms of the agreement reached by the two parties in the negotiation meeting held Monday night, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The memorandum of understanding was signed by NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero and General Secretary, Emmanuel Ugboaja, TUC President, Festus Osifo and Secretary General, Comrade Nuhu A. Toro, on the side of organised labour, and H.E. Simon Bako Lalong, Minister of Labour and Employment, Hon. Dr Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, Minister of State for Labour and Employment and Mallam Mohammed Idris, Minister of Information and National Orientation on the side of government.

The federal Government acceped to vote N100 billion for providing high capacity CNG buses for mass transit in Nigeria.

Provisions are also being made for an initial 55,000 CNG conversion kits to kick start an auto gas conversion programme, whilst work is ongoing on state-of-the-art CNG stations nationwide. The rollout aims to commence by November with pilots across ten campuses nationwide.

The Federal Government also plans to implement various tax incentive measures for the private sector and the general public.

On the issue of outstanding Salaries and Wages of Tertiary Education workers in Federal-owned educational institutions, it was referred to the Ministry of Labour and Employment for further engagement.

The Federal Government also committed to pay N25,000 per month for three months starting from October 2023 to 15 million households, including vulnerable pensioners.

The Federal Government also agreed to increase its initiatives on subsidized distribution of fertilizers to farmers across the country.

The Federal Government will urge the State Government through the National Economic Council and Governors Forum to implement wage awards for their workers.

Similar consideration should also be given to local government and private sector workers.

A joint visitation will be made to the refineries to ascertain their rehabilitation status.

In conclusion, all parties committed to henceforth abide by the dictates of Social dialogue in all future engagements.

In return, the NLC and TUC accepted to suspend the planned Indefinite Nationwide strike scheduled to begin, today for 30 day.