The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has given its official approval to a 30-day strategy aimed at implementing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) established between the federal government, the National Labour Congress (NLC), and the Trade Union Commission (TUC).
Simon Lalong, the Minister of Labour and Employment, confirmed this development at the conclusion of the FEC meeting in Abuja on Monday.
Labor unions postpones planned strike
As a recall, on October 1, organized labor and its affiliated unions were convened for a meeting with the federal government in response to an impending strike threat.
During the meeting, the federal government entered into a MoU with the unions, which included 15 specific items to be executed within a 30-day timeframe.
NLC President Joe Ajaero, TUC President Festus Osifo, and representatives from the federal government reached an agreement and formally signed the MoU, effectively postponing the planned strike for one month.
Regarding this development, Lalong mentioned that the MoU had been presented to the FEC and consisted of 15 agreed-upon items.
He also confirmed that one segment of the MoU would be presented in court, a process already in motion.
Lalong stated, “We presented a memo from the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment.
The memo primarily focused on the agreement between the government and labor. As you are already aware, there are 15 items within the agreement.
However, we went beyond mere agreement; we informed them that something different is happening.
One aspect of the agreement is to file it in the court of law, and we have already initiated the process.”
He added, “The other aspect was the presidential approval, and there can be no higher presidential approval than the Federal Executive Council.
We presented them to the Federal Executive Council. We carefully analyzed every aspect of the agreement to demonstrate its authenticity and to promote a harmonious and positive industrial relationship.
This was the reason for its presentation, and it has now been approved for implementation. The council also approved that the implementation of the agreement between labor and the government should commence within these 30 days.”