The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has given the Federal Government till Friday to meet its demands or risk another round of industrial unrest.
The NLC made their stand known after the government pleaded for more time to address grievances of the labour movement.
A meeting between both parties on Tuesday was reported to have ended in deadlock.
Some of the demands include wage award, tax exemptions and allowances to public sector workers, reduction of cost of governance, provision of Compressed Natural Gas, CNG, buses, release of modalities for N70 billion for Small and Medium Enterprises, SMEs, release of officials of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, by the police and vacation of occupation of Police-backed interlopers, among others.
One of the NLC leaders who did not want to be mentioned, said President of NLC, Joe Ajaero, pointed out that the 21-day ultimatum would expire in a few days and hoped the government met the union’s demands before then.
”Precisely, our 21-day’s ultimatum will expire this Friday, September 22. Recall that we issued the ultimatum on September 1, 2023. So, Comrade Ajaero has made that point clear, that the government has up till Friday to address our demands or risk another round of industrial unrest.
“He cited the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, quagmire and asked that the Police and Federal government are called to order to give respite to the union.
”The NURTW issue is within the purview of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, FMLE, which the ministry can immediately resolve.
“At the closed door meeting, after the recess, when the Minister of Labour, Simon Lalong, who initiated the meeting, called on NLC to give the government more time to address our demands, Ajaero responded that nobody can accuse the congress of not giving the government reasonable time because we have given more than enough time to the government to act.
“It is not fair to ask us to give the government a reasonable period when we have already done so. He urged the minister to expedite action within the remaining days of the ultimatum.
“He informed the minister that it is impossible for the congress to leave the meeting without achieving some of our objectives. We will not tell Nigerians that what we got is that we should give government reasonable time.
”So, it is up to the government to meet our demands before Friday. After Friday, NLC will take any industrial action it deems appropriate to respond to the demand of the time,” he said.
Earlier, Labour Minister, Simon Lalong, had said the Federal Government was committed to addressing the valid grievances expressed by the NLC.
Lalong, who was flanked by the Minister of State, Nkeiruka Onyejecha, told the NLC that it acknowledged and appreciated the invaluable role it played in championing the rights and welfare of workers in the country and pleaded for cooperation and understanding, saying efforts were being made to sort out the teething problems.
