The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) have made a significant decision to suspend the impending nationwide strike.
The anticipated strike, set to commence on October 3, has been put on hold following a crucial meeting held with representatives of the federal government at the State House on Monday.
The agreement to shelve the planned strike was formally announced and solidified through a memorandum of understanding (MoU) issued and signed by key figures, including Joe Ajaero, NLC president, Festus Osifo, TUC president, and representatives from the federal government, such as Simon Lalong, the minister of labour and employment.
Emergency government meeting
This decision comes after the federal government, in an emergency move on Sunday, convened a meeting with the labor unions to prevent the nationwide strike.
The strike was organized in protest against the removal of the petrol subsidy and the economic hardships plaguing the nation.
In a pivotal four-hour meeting on Sunday, President Bola Tinubu approved a provisional wage increase of N35,000 for all categories of federal workers.
The MoU, finalized on Monday after the discussions, stipulates that the payment of the N35,000 wage increment will begin from September, “pending when a new national minimum wage is expected to have been signed into law.”
Both parties agreed to inaugurate a minimum wage committee within a month from the date of the agreement.
In another significant development, the government committed to allocate N100 billion for the procurement of high-capacity compressed natural gas (CNG) buses for mass transit in Nigeria.
The MoU also revealed plans to initiate an auto gas conversion program, starting with an initial 55,000 CNG conversion kits, as well as the construction of state-of-the-art CNG stations nationwide.
The rollout of this program is expected to commence in November, with pilot projects spanning 10 campuses across the country.
Addressing the long-standing issue of outstanding salaries and wages of tertiary education workers in federal-owned educational institutions, it was resolved that the matter would be referred to the Ministry of Labour and Employment for further deliberation.
Moreover, a joint visitation to the refineries was agreed upon to assess their rehabilitation status, and all parties committed to adhering to the principles of social dialogue in all future engagements.
The MoU concluded by stating that “This Memorandum shall be filed with the relevant Court of competent jurisdiction within one (1) week as consent judgment by the Federal.”