NLC shuns meeting with Nigerian government, gives condition for workers not to shut down economic activities on Wednesday

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) declined to take part in the meeting with the Federal Government delegation scheduled for Sunday, June 4, 2023, in the Presidential Villa, stating that there would be no discussion unless the government reduced the price of fuel to its prior level.

According to NLC President Joe Ajaero, Congress will boycott meetings with the government until the Federal Government complies with the Appropriations Act of 2023, which provides for subsidies through the end of June.

He said: “We have boycotted the meeting until they revert. There is no point meeting with people who do not have the mandate when what they are doing is illegal, because the Appropriation Act of 2023 has not been obeyed, which makes provision for subsidy till the end of June.

“So, we cannot sit to negotiate. Let them revert so that we all can freely negotiate over the issues raised. In our meeting with them last Wednesday, we asked them to revert. NNPC acknowledged that the high rate was not official, but how come they adjusted pump meters across the federation? It was a negotiation not based on good faith.”

The Federal Government has stated that it will take into account the Trade Union Congress’s (TUC) list of demands, which includes the minimum wage.

After a roughly three-hour meeting between the Federal administration and the TUC, the Federal Government’s spokesperson, Dele Alake, told reporters at the State House that the administration will also consider how realistic the proposals were.

The administration is thinking of giving workers tax breaks, among other things.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, according to Alake, would set up a tripartite committee with representation from the corporate sector, organized labor, and states to investigate the dynamics of the minimum wage increase and come to a mutually agreeable conclusion.

He said the union is hopeful as the Federal Government promised to look into their demands, the top of which is a review of the current minimum wage among others.

“The demands are so long, they are so many. Part of it is the demand for a (review) of the minimum wage and we stated that for us, it is quite apt that the minimum today is not a living wage, as we all know. The value of the minimum wage since it was negotiated, has plummeted to a very abysmal level as it is today.”