Workers will soon be given wage award, Minister of Labour and Employment Simon Lalong said yesterday.
According to him, with this plan at the point of execution, there should be no need for Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to go on strike.
The minister explained that the wage award, which may be made public as soon as next week by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is one of the conditions given by the NLC, to avert the strike plan.
Lalong said the second condition, which is the release of detained officials of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), as a result of the ongoing crisis in the union, which is an affiliate of the NLC, had been effected by the police.
The minister appealed to the NLC leadership to shelve the strike. He made the plea when he received the leadership of the NURTW, led Ibikunle Baruwa in Abuja.
A ministry official privy to the meeting said that Lalong assured that the government was determined to resolve all pending issues raised by workers.
The official said: “The day Labour came, they put two issues on the front burner – wage award and the release of the NURTW members.
“He has delivered on one. He spoke to labour to give him more time as discussions were ongoing.
“The minister told labour that the President and Finance Minister Wale Edun were not in the country. The minister asked for one week when there will be a pronouncement on wage award but Labour said it can’t wait because the President works and can give directives anywhere he is in the world.”
He added: “What can the minister do other than to beg Labour not to embark on the planned strike?”
The National Executive Council of the NLC will meet today on the planned strike.
The other demands made by the NLC to cushion the effects of the May 29 subsidy removal are tax exemptions and allowances to public sector workers, provision of Compressed Natural Gas buses, the release of modalities for the N70 billion for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and immediate reversal of all anti-poor policies of the Federal Government.
Labour also wants a stop to the increase in public school fees, the release of the eight months withheld salaries of university teachers and workers as well as the increase in Value Added Tax (VAT).
Director, Press and Public Relations of the Labour and Employment Ministry Olajide Oshundun, said that Lalong reaffirmed that industrial harmony remained key to the socio-economic development of any nation. The minister urged labour unions to work in synergy with the government in moving the country forward
Oshundun confirmed that securing the release of the detained NURTW members was one of the demands of the NLC at its meeting with the minister last week.
He added that Baruwa appreciated the efforts of the minister and Minister of State, Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha for facilitating the release of the affected members.
The two Labour centres – NLC and Trade Union Congress (TUC) took the government to task following the stoppage of subsidy on petrol.
They said the effect of the removal was too harsh and demanded that something to cushion them. The governments at the federal and states came up with palliatives.
On August 17, the Federal Government, through the National Economic Council (NEC) approved the release of N5 billion each to the 36 states to cushion the pain of subsidy removal.
The money, designed partly as grants and loans from the Federal Government, was to be used to buy rice, maize and fertilisers for farmers.
It was also to cover other measures as may be deemed necessary by the governments in the states.
The government has released the first tranche of the facility (N2 billion each) to the states.
But displeased with arrangement, the NLC called its members out on a warning strike on September 5 and 6, after which it issued a 21-day auditorium to the government. The TUC and its members opted out of the two-day warning protest.
The ultimatum expired last Friday.
Before the two-day warning strike, Lalong said that the government was addressing the concerns of the Labour unions and Nigerians.
He asked for more time for the government to implement the palliative measures and address other issues.
According to him, the strike could reverse the gains already made by the government in securing a better future for Nigerians.
