The comfort of Nigerians and the ease of the Federal Government hang in the balance, as Organised Labour assesses President Bola Tinubu’s response Sunday, to its demands which will determine the triggering or standing down of a nationwide strike scheduled for Tuesday, October 3.
President Tinubu in an Independence Day address, Sunday, October 1, responded to many of Organised Labour’s demands concerning the delivery of reliefs to the generality of Nigerians, following the withdrawal of fuel subsidy and the free float of the naira, two government policies causing spiralling inflation and sharp hikes in the cost of food, goods and services.
Organised Labour has been embroiled in a series of vexed meetings with government, following the said policy decisions taken by President Tinubu on his inauguration into office on May 29 and the more than 100 percent hike in the pump price of petrol which followed hours later, eventually going all the way to 300 percent, at N600 per litre.
Labour had met with the President Tinubu, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila and Labour and Employment Minister, Simon Lalong, among others, while representatives of Labour have included Joe Ajaero, President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Festus Osifo, President of the Trade Union Congress off Nigeria (TUC).
It had further called a protest and a warning strike before calling this impending strike.
Labour’s demands of the Federal Government include demands for a 200/300 percent wage increase; making the nation’s refineries work to reduce the costs of petroleum products; tax exemption for certain categories of workers; fast-tracking the availability of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and its technology as a cheaper alternative energy source to petrol, and the Federal Government’s effective monitoring of the states’ implementation of the N5 billion worth of palliatives to mitigate the effects of subsidy removal. Labour further demands that the Federal Government meet the needs of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), among which is a N1.3 trillion injection into the system for its revitalisation as part of the pact reached in 2013; and the release of a N70 billion loan to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to stimulate the economy.
In his Independence Day address to the nation, President Tinubu announced a provisional wage increase which adds N25,000 to the monthly pay of Nigeria’s average low-grade worker for the next six months, while Labour had requested an abiding increase of between 200 and 300 percent.
Nigeria’s national minimum wage is N30,000.
The President also announced the establishment of an Infrastructure Support Fund for states to invest in critical areas to ensure better grassroots development.
He further said the states have already received funds to provide relief packages against the impact of rising food and other prices, saying government was committed to making the economy more robust by lowering public transport costs through the deployment of cheaper, safer CNG buses across the nation.
The CNG buses, he said, will operate at a fraction of current fuel prices, positively affecting transport fares.
He said to this end, CNG conversions kits will start coming in very soon and all hands are on deck to fast track the usually lengthy procurement process.
“We are also setting up training facilities and workshops across the nation to train and provide new opportunities for transport operators and entrepreneurs. This is a groundbreaking moment where, as a nation, we embrace more efficient means to power our economy.
“I pledged a thorough housecleaning of the den of malfeasance the CBN had become. That housecleaning is well underway. A new leadership for the Central Bank has been constituted.
“Also, my special investigator will soon present his findings on past lapses and how to prevent similar reoccurrences. Henceforth, monetary policy shall be for the benefit of all and not the exclusive province of the powerful and wealthy,” he said.
“Wise tax policy is essential to economic fairness and development. I have inaugurated a Committee on Tax Reforms to improve the efficiency of tax administration in the country and address fiscal policies that are unfair or hinder the business environment and slow our growth. To boost employment and urban incomes, we are providing investment funding for enterprises with great potential. Similarly, we are increasing investment in micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.
“Commencing this month, the social safety net is being extended through the expansion of cash transfer programs to an additional 15 million vulnerable households.”
The strike action called by Labour was strategically timed to come soon after the anticipated October 1, Independence Day address by President Tinubu.
This was to leave sufficient time for Labour to call off the strike, should President Tinubu adequately address their demands in his address.
In announcing the decision to call a strike NLC president, Joe Ajaero, said there would be consequences, “If the President ignites any responses to our demands in his Independence Day address that will be imposing wages on us and not a conscious negotiation between Labour and the Federal Government”.
Ajaero emphasised: “If he declares an amount to give, that will be mere tokenism and not a product of bargaining and negotiation.”
Ajaero further observed that nothing had been achieved after the numerous meetings with government, adding, “That is the height of insensitivity and it is worse because they are using silence and laziness as a strategy.”
Also, he said: “Only on the eve of any strike notice that there is a meeting” and all the agreements in the meetings have not been converted to levels of implementation.”
Organised Labour was said to be deliberating on President Tinubu’s response to its demands late Sunday, while the Federal Government was said to be moving for further engagement with them.
