Why Labour Unions Suspended Strike Action

By Adesina Soyooye

Relief came the way of the Federal Government and Nigerians late Monday morning when the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and the Trade Union Congress, TUC, suspended their planned nationwide indefinite strike.

The Unions had planned to start the strike which promised to ground Nigeria to a halt on Tuesday, October 3, 2023. They advised Nigerians to stock up as the action was going to be a long haul. It followed a dispute which arose after the Federal Government withdrew subsidy on fuel which condemned the masses to unprecedented hardship as the cost of everything went haywire and out of the reach of the poor.

But, on the eve of the beginning of the strike, the Federal Government managed to convince the NLC, led by its National President, Joe Ajaero, and the TUC led by its leader, to a full discussion.

It is not the first time such meetings would be held, but the FG manages not to keep to the agreements. This time, however, seeing the seriousness of the Unions, and the effect the strike was going to have on Nigeria’s fragile and wobbly economy, the Federal Government promised to keep to the letter the Memorandum of Understanding it signed with the Unions late Monday.

With the MU signed by both parties,  Labour and FG, the Unions have suspended, for 30 days, the planned National Strike.

Following is the Full text of the MU and Terms of Agreement signed by the parties.

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING REACHED BETWEEN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA AND THE NIGERIA LABOUR CONGRESS (NLC) AND TRADE UNION CONGRESS OF NIGERIA (TUC) AS A RESULT OF DISPUTE ARISING FROM WITHDRAWAL OF SUBSIDY ON THE PRICE OF PREMIUM MOTOR SPIRIT (PMS) ON MONDAY, THE 2ND DAY OF OCTOBER, 2023

Arising from the withdrawal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) by the Federal Government and the resultant increase in the price of the commodity, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) issued a strike notice which had elapsed and they were poised to embark on a strike billed to commence on Tuesday, the 3rd of October, 2023.

Consequently, a meeting was called by the Federal Government to avert the strike and after much discussion, the following agreements were reached:

1. The Federal Government grants a wage award of N35,000 (thirty-five thousand Naira) only to all Federal Government workers beginning from the month of September pending when a new national minimum wage is expected to have been signed into law.

2. A minimum wage committee shall be inaugurated within one month from the date of this agreement.

3. Federal Government suspends collection of Value Added Tax (VAT) on Diesel for six months beginning from October, 2023.

4. Federal Government accepts to vote N100 billion for the provision of high capacity CNG buses for mass transit in Nigeria. Provisions are also being made for initial 55,000 CNG conversion kits to kick start an auto gas conversion programme, whilst work is ongoing on state-of-the-art CNG stations nationwide. The rollout aims to commence by November with pilots across 10 campuses nationwide.

5. The Federal Government plans to implement various tax incentive measures for private sector and the general public.

6. On the leadership crises rocking the NURTW and the purported proscription of RTEAN, the Federal Government commits to handling Labour matters in line with relevant ILO Conventions and Nigerian Labour Acts. A resolution of the ongoing impasse is expected by or before October 13.

7. The issue of outstanding Salaries and Wages of Tertiary Education workers in Federal-owned educational institutions is being referred to Ministry of Labour and Employment for further engagement.

8. The Federal Government commits to pay N25,000 per month for three months starting from October, 2023 to 15 million households, including vulnerable pensioners.

9. The Federal Government will increase its initiatives on subsidized distribution of fertilizers to farmers across the country.

10. The Federal Government should urge State Government through the National Economic Council and Governors Forum to implement wage award for their workers. Similar consideration should also be given to local government and private sector workers.

11. The Federal Government commits to the provision of funds as announced by the President on the 1st of August broadcast to the Nation for Micro and Small Scale Enterprises. The MSMEs beneficiaries should commit to the principle of decent jobs.

12. A joint visitation will be made to the refineries to ascertain their rehabilitation status.

13. All parties commit to henceforth abide by the dictates of Social dialogue in all our future engagements.

14. The NLC and TUC accept to suspend for 30 days the planned Indefinite Nationwide strike scheduled to begin, Tuesday, the 3rd of October, 2023.

15. This Memorandum shall be filed with the relevant Court of competent jurisdiction within one (1) week as consent judgment by the Federal Government.

Signed:

NLC:

Comrade Joe Ajaero                                  Comrade Emmanuel Ugboaja, mni

President NLC                                                         General Secretary

TUC

Comrade (Engr) Festus Osifo                      Comrade Nuhu A. Toro

President                                                       Secretary General

Federal Government:

H.E. Simon Bako Lalong

Honourable Minister of Labour and Employment

Hon. Dr Nkeiruka Onyejeocha

Honourable Minister of State for Labour and Employment

Mallam Mohammed Idris

Honourable Minister of Information and National Orientation