Nigeria Labour Congress
State branches of the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress have voiced their frustration with the sluggish progress in executing the Memorandum of Understanding they entered into with the Federal Government to prevent the proposed nationwide strike.
Organized labor has cautioned that unless the agreement is fully enforced by the October 30 deadline, they may have no alternative but to initiate a strike, emphasizing that they have already started mobilizing their members nationwide.
Inquired on Tuesday, October 24, about the satisfaction of Labour with the execution of the MoU, Benson Upah, the Head of Information and Public Affairs at the NLC, responded, “No, we are not. The government could do better and faster. We issued a statement a few days ago in which we expressed our displeasure with the Minister of Labour and Employment.”
On October 1, the NLC and TUC’s top leadership, in an agreement with the Federal Government, decided to initiate the payment of N35,000 to all federal employees starting in September. This arrangement would remain in place until a new national minimum wage became official.
According to the agreement, this wage increase was scheduled to last for six months for federal workers, and states were strongly encouraged to adopt the same policy for their employees.
Prior to this agreement, the labor unions had threatened to instigate a nationwide strike on October 3. However, they postponed this action on the condition that the wage increase, financial transfers, and other resolutions be put into effect within 30 days from the date of signing the Memorandum of Understanding.
Out of the 15 requests outlined in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), just a few have been put into practice by the government.
As of now, union leaders have conveyed that if the federal and state governments do not adhere to the agreements reached with organized labor by the October 30 deadline, the union may find itself compelled to initiate industrial action.