The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has given the Federal Government until October 27 to address workers’ demands, warning that it may mobilise nationwide action if negotiations fail to produce meaningful results.
The NLC issued the warning after a meeting between the Federal Government and organised labour ended in a deadlock at the Ministry of Labour in Abuja on Thursday. In a statement released after the meeting, Mr Benson Upah, the NLC’s Acting General Secretary, said the government delegation arrived without the necessary authority to make concrete commitments on the outstanding issues.
According to Upah, the meeting ended without any agreement, leaving the workers’ demands unresolved.
“Regrettably, the government delegation came unprepared and without the necessary mandates to engage substantively on these issues,” he said.
He added that no concrete commitments were secured during the meeting.
Upah urged NLC affiliates, state councils and civil society allies to remain alert and begin mobilising for possible nationwide action while the union awaits the government’s response.
He said the meeting was adjourned until October 27 at the request of the Minister of Labour, who asked for more time to bring relevant ministers and heads of departments and agencies into the negotiations.
The NLC’s demands include a reduction in petrol prices to 2024 levels, renegotiation of the national minimum wage and implementation of agreed tax relief measures.
Upah said the union was also demanding the implementation of the Terms of Settlement reached with the Joint Health Sector Unions and Assembly of Healthcare Professionals (JOHESU), as well as the demands of the Joint Public Sector Negotiating Council (JPSNC).
He explained that outstanding issues under the JPSNC demands include peculiar allowances, wage awards and hazard allowances.
The NLC said it remained committed to dialogue but would not accept indefinite delays in resolving the issues affecting workers.
Upah said the union’s relevant organs would decide on the next course of action if the October 27 meeting failed to achieve meaningful progress.
He urged Nigerian workers and the general public to remain calm and resolute, expressing hope that the Federal Government would address the outstanding demands at the next meeting.
The acting general secretary assured workers that the NLC would continue to pursue their interests and those of the wider public through all legitimate means.
