From Our Correspondent
The organised labour, on Tuesday in Abuja, suspended their industrial action, which started on Monday, for one week.
The labour, under the umbrella of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), had called out workers on strike.
It is over a lack of consensus on a new minimum wage and the hike in electricity tariff.
TheNewsZenith reports that TUC President, Festus Osifo, confirmed after a joint extraordinary National Executive Council meeting of the two unions.
“NEC meeting of TUC/NLC has approved to relax the industrial action for one week with immediate effect,” Osifo said.
He said that the unions would issue a joint communique later.
The industrial action ground activities in critical sectors of the economy with schools, businesses, hospitals and airports shut.
To ensure the effectiveness of the strike, union officials shut down the national grid, thus throwing the nation into darkness.
Read Related News:
Organised labour throws Nigeria into darkness, shuts national grid.
Workers welfare: NEC urges labour to strengthen dialogue
Labour protests begin in Abuja, spread across Nigeria
Federal workers to get N25k palliative across board – COS
FG Registers 2 new university-based unions
Labour’s actions followed the expiration of the May 31 deadline for an agreement on a new minimum wage. This was as negotiations between them and the Federal Government deadlocked.
During the failed talks with the government, labour rejected three government offers, the latest being ₦60,000.
Both NLC and TUC subsequently pulled out of negotiations, insisting on ₦494,000 as the new minimum wage.
However, in a bid to stop the strike, the government and the labour leaders held an hours-long meeting. The meeting dovetailed into the night on Monday.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, the Ministers of Information and National Orientation Labour and Employment (State) as well as leaders of NLC and TUC, attended the meeting.
Although labour said they would meet to decide the next action after the meeting with the government representative, they eventually reached some resolutions including the government’s resolve to pay above ₦60,000.
They also agreed on regular meetings between the parties and that no worker would be victimised as a result of the industrial action.
Do you have a flair for Citizenship Journalism? Share story(ies) of happenings in your area with TheNewsZenith on WhatsApp: 08033668669 or thenewszenithonline@gmail.com
