Senate President Godswill Akpabio and the Chainman of the Nigerian governors’ Forum, NGF, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq are believed to be in an emergency meeting with the Organised Labour in the country in the last ditched effort to avert a nationwide strike.
The meeting, the magazine has learned, was called by Akpabio and the leadership the 36 state governors in the country to appeal to the leadership of the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, and Trade Union Congress, TUC to shelve the strike which begins tomorrow.
Also in the meeting that was started this afternoon are some governors from the six geo-political zones of the country.
The NLC and TUC had directed their members to embark on an indefinite strike, starting from Monday June 3, 2024 after negotiation over the new minimum wage broke down.
The last meeting between the workers’ leadership, the federal, state, and private sector broke down on May 30, 2024.
The NLC and TUC had accused the representatives of the government to be ‘unserious’ with the negotiation, due to the N60, 000 minimum wage offered the workers, instead of the N494,000 they are demanding.
The labour leaders also said on Saturday that the only way forward in the ongoing negotiation is for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to intervene directly.
According to Hakeem Ambali, the National Treasurer of the NLC told journalists that Tinubu should direct the federal government representatives to be more reasonable with what they are offering worker, stating that the N60,000 that the government has offered was not with current economic reality in the country.
Ambali stated that the federal government had all the opportunity to avert the strike until the ultimatum given by the Organised Labour expired three days ago.
“For a whole month, we have been going forward and backward between FG and Labour. Labour shows concern and perseverance. You will recall that on May 1, Labour gave an ultimatum that we would embark on strike after the last day of May. Those in government should have done what was needed to avert this. As of today, labour has taken a decision,” he said.
“Within 24 hours, the FG and Mr President can avert the strike if he (Tinubu) shows direct interest. He has the final say. The buck stops at his table.”
Meanwhile, those currently watching the face off between the NLC and TUC have warned that the imminent strike has the potential to destabilize the fragile economic situation in the country if not quickly averted.
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