Organized labor, comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress, boycotted an emergency meeting with the Federal Government that was scheduled for 3 pm on Friday at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
The meeting was meant to talk the labor movement out of its planned nationwide strike from Tuesday, October 3, 2023, amongst other goals. On September 26, the NLC and TUC disclosed plans to commence an indefinite strike on October 3 to protest the cost of living crisis following the scrapping of petrol subsidy by President Bola Tinubu during his inauguration on May 29, 2023.
The unions directed their state chapters and affiliates to mobilize for the shutdown of critical facilities and infrastructure such as airports, seaports, electricity grids, and fuel supply nationwide.
The Federal Government, after Thursday’s National Economic Council meeting, appealed to the unions to continue negotiations, warning that an indefinite strike could devastate the economy at this time. Despite several deadlocked talks, the government fixed Friday’s meeting for noon and postponed the gathering around 3 pm to enable labor to contact its leaders outside Abuja.
However, the labor representatives had yet to arrive by 4 pm, and the Conference Room was empty, although light refreshments were positioned on the table, signaling an expected meeting.
It was learnt that the government sent the invitation to the meeting through the Ministry of Labour and Employment on Friday morning. The Minister of Labour, Simon Lalong, was in the office of the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, and it was gathered that the Chief of Staff and the Labor Minister were waiting upstairs for the labor representatives.
Around 5 pm, Gbajabiamila was seen leaving the Villa premises, and it was said that he was headed for the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport to await the arrival of President Tinubu from Paris.
However, facts have emerged that the Federal Government delegation should not have expected the leadership of the NLC and TUC as the two labour bodies had earlier indicated that they would not be able to attend the meeting due to logistical constraint as a result of short notice.
In response to the letter of invitation by the Minister, the two labour centres in a letter dated September 29, requested for a new date next week.
The letter signed by Emmanuel Ugboaja, NLC’s General Secretary and Nuhu Toro, TUC’s Secretary General, titled “R-impending labour union strike: Invitation to meeting”, read: “We extend our warm regards to you and the entire team at your Ministry.
“We wish to express our sincere regrets for our inability to attend the proposed meeting between us and the Federal Government, scheduled for today the 29th Day of September due to already scheduled engagements our officials have outside Abuja.
“Regrettably, the short notice provided for this meeting has posed significant logistical challenges for the majority of our leadership, rendering their participation unfeasible at this time.
“In light of this, and in the interest of ensuring that any discussions held are representative of the NLC’s and TUC’s collective stance, we find it imperative to request the rescheduling of the meeting.
“We trust that this request for a rescheduled meeting will be taken into consideration, and we look forward to your understanding in this matter.”
Since the beginning of his tenure, Tinubu’s decision to discontinue the age-old subsidy that kept fuel prices low has been a cause of protest by labour unions. The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, stated in an interview on Thursday that the government is in talks with labour unions to resolve the issues raised by them. He further added that the government is optimistic that the talks will yield a positive outcome and a strike will be avoided as it will not benefit anyone.
