The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) emphasized their reluctance to resort to strikes, stating a preference for government action to fulfil obligations.
During an interview on Channels Television, Uchenna Ekwe, Head of International Relations at NLC, clarified that ultimatums are issued only when government reminders are disregarded.
He asserted, “The NLC is never inclined towards strikes; our goal is for the necessary actions to be taken by the government.”
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Ekwe underscored ongoing communications with the government regarding the 16-point agreement reached in October last year, expressing concern over unresolved issues.
He highlighted the partial implementation of wage adjustments and insufficient palliatives for petrol price hikes, noting
He said, “Usually people see when NLC starts putting a warning, and if you notice the comments, people will say we don’t want a strike, it will disrupt. Balancing all these, Let me make this clear, the NLC is never interested in a strike, we don’t want a strike; we want the right things to be done.
“Before you see us issue a public ultimatum, there must have been many communications that are not meant public to the government system calling their attention to probably an agreement like in this case.”
He said the agreement between Labour and the government was reached in October last year, and many communications serving as reminders to the government have been going on, which have yielded little impact.
He lamented that some items out of the 16-point agreement have not received any attention and that the unions want them addressed.
Ekwe also dismissed insinuations that Labour is playing to the gallery and trying to use its influence to quell agitations and protests in the country over hardship.
He said that Labour had no reason to play to the gallery, as it would be of no benefit to the workers and the Nigerian people.
He said the wage award, which is part of the agreement with the government, has only received partial implementation, and many states have not even implemented it at all.
Speaking on the agreed palliative to cushion the effect of petrol removal, which led to a rise in the cost of living, he noted that only Borno and Kebbi states did something significant in that regard, regretting that other states rather distributed cups of rice and others as palliative.
In the statement signed by the leaders of the two labour unions, Joe Ajaero and Festus Usifo, on Thursday, the organised labour expressed sadness that, despite the passage of time, “the majority of these crucial agreements remain unmet or negligibly addressed, indicating a blatant disregard for the principles of good faith, welfare, and rights of Nigerian workers and Nigerians.”
The organised labour said that it is giving the Federal Government 14 days, starting from today, February 9, to February 14, 2024, to fulfil its part of the understanding with the labour unions.