After a four-hour meeting with the leadership of the National Assembly on Sunday evening in Abuja, the leadership of the Organised Labour says there is no going back on the nationwide industrial action slated to start on Monday, June 3, 2024.
Earlier, Osifo, the President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC); and his counterpart in the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero; met with Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas. in Abuja.
The meeting was part of last-minute efforts by the legislators to persuade aggrieved workers to shelve their planned industrial action for a new minimum wage.
The National Assembly said the meeting was to “avert the impending industrial action” to commence on Monday, June 3, 2024, “which would have severe repercussions on the populace and economy”.
The decision of the Organised Labour followed the deadlock between the Federal Government and the unions over a new national minimum wage and reversal of the recent hike in electricity tariffs.
The Chairmen of the Senate and House Committees on Labour, Employment and Productivity respectively, Diket Plang, and Adegboyega Adefarati, were also at the meeting.
“For now, we don’t have the power to call off the strike, tomorrow (Monday) morning, the strike will kick off as we take their (NASS) plea asking us to call off the strike to our various organs,” said Festus Osifo after the meeting with NASS leadership.
The federal government has been appealing to organised labour to shelve the strike, noting its adverse effect on the already struggling economy.
In the last week meeting of the minimum wage tripartite committee, the federal government stopped at N60,000 as the amount for a new national minimum wage, while organised labour insist on N494,000, an amount which the government has described as outrageous.
