Subsidy removal: FG, TUC agree on two weeks deadline to resolve issues

The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has agreed to give the Federal Government a two-week ultimatum to address some of its demands over the petrol subsidy removal.

The decision followed a meeting convened by the Minister of Labour and Employment and immediate past governor of Plateau State, Mr Solomon Lalong, to resolve TUC’s and Nigeria Labour Congress’ differences with the government and also to avert the warning strike by the organised labour.

According to Lalong, the issues for which a two-week timeline was set for their resolution include wage awards for federal civil servants to cushion the effect of rising poverty among them, and tax exemption for a certain level of workers, both in the public and private sectors.

Other issues include putting structures in place to ensure effective implementation of the palliatives by the Federal Government for the states and the FCT, as well as to set out the modalities for accessing the N70 billion proposed for the funding of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME).

The parties also agreed that there would be no strike within this peace period of two weeks, “while we are doing deliberations and also working towards realising some of these objectives”, Lalong further disclosed.

The President of TUC, Comrade Festus Osifo, said the two-week timeline was reasonable as it would give government ample time to address the issues.

Osifo said their demands, as contained in a communique earlier issued by the Congress, include resolving the impasse between Lagos State Government and Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), increasing the amount provided for palliative as the sum of N5 billion allocated per state is inadequate to ameliorate the sufferings of Nigerians.

Persecondnews reports that last week, at a news conference, the Minister had implored Nigeria Labour Congress to suspend its planned two-day warning strike scheduled for September 5 and 6 as such action would be detrimental to the gains already recorded by government in securing a “greater future” for Nigerian workers and citizens.

The Minister reassured Nigerian workers that government “would never take them for granted or fail to appreciate their support and understanding.”