By Seyi Babalola
At the moment, a meeting between the Federal Government and Organized Labor is taking place at the Chief of Staff Conference Room of the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
The purpose of the meeting on Monday is to inform the government representatives of the resolutions adopted by the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria.
These will contain Labour’s ultimate judgment about the accommodations and proposals the FG made to the employees on Sunday.
Our source saw that the administration is meeting with the two labor organizations individually and in turn. The FG is currently meeting with TUC members as of this report.
According to Metrowatchxtra.com, at the meeting on Sunday, Labour decided to forward the FG’s offer to their different organs for review, to perhaps cancel the planned statewide strike for October 3.
President Bola Tinubu’s chief of staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, told reporters on Sunday that the President has agreed to examine the Provisional Wage Increase from N25,000 to N35,000 for both senior and low-grade personnel.
Labour had insisted that the PWI be extended across the board and run till a new minimum wage is agreed upon.
However, calls to extend the validity of the offer beyond six months did not pass.
In a statement issued by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, some of the resolutions reached at Sunday’s meeting were that, “A sub-committee to be constituted to work out the details of implementation of all items for consideration regarding government interventions to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal.”
“The NLC and TUC will consider the offers by the Federal Government to suspend the planned strike to allow for further consultations on the implementation of the resolutions above”, the statement also read.
Representatives of Labour are the NLC President, Joe Ajaero; his TUC counterpart, Festus Osifo; NLC General Secretary, Emma Ugbaja and the TUC Secretary General, Nuhu Toro among others.
On the government’s team are the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu; Minister of Finance, Wale Edun; Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, and the Minister of State for Labour, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha.
