By Ken Afor
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has said it will embark on an indefinite strike after the expiration of the 14-day ultimatum and the federal government’s failure to meet their demands.
This was made known by Benson Upah, Head, Department for Information and Public Affairs of NLC on Friday.
Upah in an interview with THE WHISTLER said none of their demands have been met by the federal government after meeting with the minister of labour and employment earlier in the week.
It would be recalled that the NLC had embarked on a two-day warning strike between Wednesday, September 6 and Friday 8 to voice their demands.
The face-off between the NLC and the government was as a result of the removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in May leading to the increase in pump price.
The sharp increase in price of the commodity inflicted hardship on Nigerians as it affected the prices of goods and services including transportation to an abnormal all time high.
Few weeks later, the government announced palliatives to cushion the effect of the subsidy.
However, the NLC presented its demands to the government which included wage awards, tax exemptions and allowances to public sector workers, reduction of cost of governance, provision of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses, the release of modalities for N70bn for Small and Medium Enterprises, SMEs, and release of officials of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, among others.
According to Upah, none of their demands had been met, insisting that the strike “can begin any moment from now”.
His words: “The FG has put nothing to the table, There is no agreement from all the resolutions that are mutually signed. The government is not prepared.
“The National Executive Council (NEC) communique is emphatic about when the ultimatum will end, but not precise about when the strike will commence. It could start a few minutes, one hour, three days from when the ultimatum ends.
“This is for us to mobilize our actions, and that is the window the NEC communique gave us.
“This is the first government to remove fuel subsidy and is very confused on what actions to take.”
