Federal Government-Labor Unions Meeting Postponed To Next Week

A meeting between Nigeria's federal government and labor unions to discuss a 15-point memorandum, which was signed between both parties to avert a proposed indefinite strike last month, has been postponed to next week.

The meeting, which was supposed to be held Tuesday, was postponed to Nov. 7 because the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting was also scheduled for the same day. The decision was taken by the government after realizing that the labor union meeting coincided with that of the executive council meeting.

"The meeting did not hold. It has been postponed. It was postponed because of the FEC meeting today (yesterday). Government representatives said they forgot that today (Tuesday) was the FEC meeting. The meeting will now be held next week Tuesday," Vanguard reported citing a source.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) said Tuesday it will boycott the meeting if Labour and Employment Minister Simon Bako Lalong is present.

"If that meeting is to hold, it will be without the Minister of Labour and Employment because we will not be part of any meeting with the federal government that the Minister of Labour and Employment will attend," NLC President Joe Ajaero said, ThisDayLive reported. "You will recall that the decision we had on National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) was that all parties, including the police, should vacate the premises pending the resolution of the dispute, but that did not happen. Therefore, any meeting we will have with the federal government, the Minister of Labour and Employment will not be part of it."

Labor unions in Nigeria had threatened to go on an indefinite strike in September after the government scrapped a fuel subsidy, which caused an increase in fuel prices. The unions gave a 21-day ultimatum to the government to address their demands.

Nigeria's biggest workers' unions - Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Nigeria - on Oct. 3 agreed to suspend the planned nationwide strike for 30 days after signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to ensure that the federal government will spend N315 billion in the next six months as allowance for federal workers.

Almost after 30 days, the government and the unions will come face to face again next week to discuss measures to meet the workers' demands and stop the strike permanently.

Nigeria is going through a tough time as the fuel subsidy removal has caused a negative impact on the citizens. The gas prices increased after President Bola Tinubu announced fuel subsidy removal on May 29.