The Organised Labour has reached a decision to suspend its impending indefinite strike, originally scheduled for Tuesday, October 3, 2023.
This significant development followed extensive deliberations between representatives of the organised labour and the federal government, which took place for approximately five hours within the Chief of Staff Conference Room of the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
The outcome of this pivotal meeting was revealed by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong, who stated, “The NLC and TUC accept to suspend for 30 days the planned indefinite nationwide strike scheduled to begin on Tuesday, October 3, 2023.”
Lalong further disclosed that the memorandum outlining these terms would be submitted to the appropriate court of competent jurisdiction within one week as a consent judgment on behalf of the Federal Government.
Nevertheless, NLC President Joe Ajaero emphasized that the unions would closely monitor the government’s adherence to these commitments. They reserved the right to revisit the agreement if the Federal Government failed to meet their demands.
Before reaching this agreement, the organised labour had been on the brink of withdrawing from the negotiations due to the government’s insistence on limiting the N35,000 provisional salary increment to a mere six months.
The labour union had accused the government team of backtracking on the initial agreement made on Sunday night, which stipulated that the N35,000 provisional salary increment, applicable across the board, would remain in effect until the negotiation and implementation of the new minimum wage next year.
As the meeting concluded, Minister Simon Lalong read out the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), confirming the suspension of the planned indefinite strike for a duration of 30 days. Additionally, the MoU directed the Minister of Labour to address the issue of withheld salaries for university staff.
| LIB
