Labour, FG Resume Talks At Presidential Villa
A meeting is currently underway between the Federal Government and representatives of Organised Labour at the Chief of Staff Conference Room of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Monday’s meeting is to brief the representatives of the government on the resolutions reached by the organs of the two labour unions, the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria.
These will include Labour’s final decision on the concessions and offers the FG made to the workers on Sunday.
It was observed that the government is separately meeting the two labour organs in turn. As of this report, the FG is meeting members of the TUC.
In a previous meeting which was held on Sunday, Labour agreed to relay FG’s offer to their various organs for consideration to possibly call off the proposed nationwide strike for October 3.
Addressing State House Correspondents on Sunday, President Bola Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, made it known that the President agreed to review the Provisional Wage Increase from N25,000/month to N35,000/month for both senior and low-grade workers.
Labour had insisted that the PWI be extended across the board and run till a new minimum wage is agreed upon.
However, calls to extend the validity of the offer beyond six months did not pass.
In a statement issued by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, some of the resolutions reached at Sunday’s meeting were that, “A sub-committee to be constituted to work out the details of implementation of all items for consideration regarding government interventions to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal.”
“The NLC and TUC will consider the offers by the Federal Government to suspend the planned strike to allow for further consultations on the implementation of the resolutions above”, the statement also read.
Representatives of Labour are the NLC President, Joe Ajaero; his TUC counterpart, Festus Osifo; NLC General Secretary, Emma Ugbaja and the TUC Secretary General, Nuhu Toro among others.
On the government’s team are the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu; Minister of Finance, Wale Edun; Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, and the Minister of State for Labour, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha.
