Organised labour shelves strike for 30 days after MoU with FG

Business A.M

Nigeria’s organised labour, consisting  the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), has suspended its planned nationwide strike for thirty days, following a last minute agreement with the federal government at the State House in Abuja last night.

Business A.M gathered that the planned indefinite nationwide strike, scheduled to begin today, October 3,2023, was suspended by the labour union after a lengthy discussion with the federal government which resulted in an agreement to suspend the strike for a month.

The full agreements were contained in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by  Simon Bako Lalong, the minister of labour and employment;Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, minister of state for labour and employment;and  Mohammed Idris, minister of information and national orientation.

The agreement, signed by Joe Ajaero for the NLC and Festus Osifo, for the TUC, was centered on palliative provisions by the federal government to cushion the impact and ease the sufferings of Nigerians amid the petrol subsidy removal  and the resultant surge in petrol prices across the country.

The federal government, in its attempt to avert the nationwide strike, proposed a wage surplus of N35,000 to all federal government workers beginning from the month of September pending when a new national minimum wage is expected to have been signed into law. It also included setting up a minimum wage committee within one month from the date of the agreement.

The government also signed an agreement with the organised labour, to suspend collection of Value Added Tax (VAT) on diesel for six months beginning from October, 2023.

The federal government also agreed to vote N100 billion for the provision of high capacity CNG buses for mass transit in the country, with provisions made for initial 55,000 CNG conversion kits to kick start an auto gas conversion programme. The federal government noted that work is ongoing on state-of-the-art CNG stations nationwide, while the rollout aims to commence by November with pilots across 10 campuses nationwide.

Other agreements reached at the meeting include plans to implement various tax incentive measures for the private sector and the general public. The Federal Government also agreed to increase its initiatives on subsidized distribution of fertilizers to farmers across the country.

On the leadership crisis rocking the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and the purported proscription of Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), the federal government disclosed its commitments to handling labour matters in line with relevant ILO Conventions and Nigerian Labour Acts. It added that a resolution of the ongoing impasse is expected by or before October 13.

Also, 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 emphasised that it is committed to pay N25,000 per month for three months starting from October, 2023 to 15 million households, including vulnerable pensioners.

The memorandum partly read, “The Federal Government should urge State Government through the National Economic Council and Governors Forum to implement wage award for their workers. Similar consideration should also be given to local government and private sector workers.

“The Federal Government commits to the provision of funds as announced by the President on the August 1, broadcast to the Nation for Micro and Small Scale Enterprises. The MSMEs beneficiaries should commit to the principle of decent jobs.

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

“All parties commit to henceforth abide by the dictates of Social dialogue in all our future engagements.

“This Memorandum shall be filed with the relevant Court of competent jurisdiction within one (1) week as consent judgment by the Federal Government.”

Commenting on the agreement, Ajaero threatened that the strike issue would be revisited if the agreements are not implemented by the federal government.