By Charles Adingupu
The ongoing negotiations between the Federal Government and organised labour hit a brick wall on Wednesday evening as the meeting ended without any agreement been reached.
The hours-long meeting which held at the Presidential Villa was to, among other things, prevent a labour crisis following the recent increase in petrol pump price occasioned by the discontinuance of petroleum subsidy.
The President of the Nigerian Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero, disclosed this at the end of the meeting. “As far as labour is concerned, we didn’t have a consensus in this meeting,” he said.
He faulted the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited over an official release published hours earlier, upwardly reviewing the petrol pump price in its filling stations nationwide.
He said the move puts the labour union in a difficult position on the negotiation table.
“That’s the principle of negotiation. You don’t put the partner, ask them to negotiate under gunpoint.
“The prayers of the NLC is that we go back to status quo, negotiate, think of alternatives and all the effects and how to manage the effects this action is going to have on the people, if it is an action that must take off.
“The subsidy provision has been made up to the end of June. And before then, conscious people, labour management, government, should be able to think of what will happen at the end of June. You don’t start it before the time,” Ajaero said.
On his part, Dele Alake, who spoke on behalf of the Federal Government said the negotiations are ongoing and the parties will reconvene on a yet-to-be announced date.
