The Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, has threatened to begin an indefinite strike if the Federal Government fails to meet its demands at the end of a 21-day ultimatum.
DAILY NIGERIAN reports that the union had issued the ultimatum on September 1 over an alleged delay by the government in rolling out realistic measures to cushion the effects of the fuel subsidy removal.
The union, subsequently, embarked on a two-day warning strike between September 5 and 6 to show its seriousness.
But speaking during an interview with the Punch Newspaper on Tuesday, the Assistant Secretary General of the NLC, Christopher Onyeka, said the proposed strike was due to the lukewarm attitude of the government towards meeting the demands of the Nigerian workers.
He explained that the industrial action, which may commence any day next week, would lead to an indefinite shutdown of commercial and economic activities across the country.
The NLC scribe further accused the Federal Government of absconding from the negotiation table.
He said: “We sent the letter to the Federal Government on September 1, 2023, so by September 22, 2023, the 21-day ultimatum will end.
“We have made it clear that the Federal Government has abandoned and absconded from the table for negotiation; that government is no longer negotiating with Nigerians and there is no good faith negotiation that is going on.
“President Bola Tinubu promised Nigerians on his own on the television with the President of NLC, Joe Ajaero, that he was going to restructure the committees, but he did not do that, and since then the committees have not met and there has been no negotiation that is on-going. As it is, NLC is not negotiating with the government,” Mr Onyeka said.
