The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has announced a two-day warning strike, starting from Tuesday, September 5, to protest against the Federal Government’s failure to address the challenges occasioned by the removal of fuel subsidy.
Joe Ajaero, the NLC President, had made the announcement on Friday, September 1 during a press conference at the Labour House in FCT Abuja, while talking on resolutions by the NLC National Executive Committee, NEC, meeting the previous day.
The labour union is blaming the Federal Government of discontinuing the negotiations and failing to initiate several of the resolutions agreed upon in previous meetings with the government.
On August 2, organised labour demonstrated what it tagged as “the anti-people policies of the President Bola Tinubu administration”.
The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Trade Union Congress, TUC and other affiliate unions had protested in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, and several states. Some of the states include: Lagos, Rivers, Abia, Kaduna, Plateau, Kano, Zamfara, Cross River, Katsina, Edo, Ebonyi, Kwara, Enugu, Ogun, Imo, Ondo.
The demonstrations had come after a seven-day ultimatum was issued to the Federal Government calling for “an immediate reversal of all anti-poor policies of the federal government including the recent hike in Premium Motor Spirit aka petroleum price, hike in public school fees, as well as the release of the eight months retained salary of university lecturers and workers”.
A lot of meetings have been held between the Presidency and the unions on the palliatives to be disbursed for Nigerians suffering the resulting hardship in the wake of the petrol subsidy removal but they had all proved abortive.