Why NLC, TUC Suspended Planned Indefinite Strike

After announcing to embark on an indefinite strike on October 3, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) reached an agreement with the government and suspended the industrial action for 30 days.

The strike is arising from the withdrawal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) by the Federal Government and the resultant increase in the price of the commodity.

The labour unions issued a strike notice which had elapsed and they were poised to embark on the industrial action on Tuesday, the 3rd of October, 2023.

Consequently, a meeting was called by the FG to avert the strike and after much discussion, an agreement was reached.

In a communique issued after the meeting, the Federal Government granted a wage award of N35,000 only to all Federal Government workers beginning in September pending when a new national minimum wage is expected to have been signed into law.

A minimum wage committee will also be inaugurated within one month from the date of the agreement.

Similarly, it was agreed that the Federal Government suspends the collection of Value Added Tax (VAT) on Diesel for six months beginning from October 2023, while N100bn was voted for the provision of 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 autogas conversion program, while work is ongoing on state-of-the-art CNG stations nationwide. The rollout aims to commence by November with pilots across 10 campuses nationwide.

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

On the leadership crises rocking the NURTW and the purported proscription of RTEAN, the Federal Government committed to handling Labour matters in line with relevant ILO Conventions and Nigerian Labour Acts. A resolution of the ongoing impasse is expected before October 13.

The issue of outstanding Salaries and Wages of Tertiary Education workers in Federal-owned educational institutions 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.