NLC Issues Two-Day Warning Strike over Petrol Subsidy Removal

In response to the effects of the removal of the fuel subsidy on Nigerians, the Nigeria Labour Congress has called for a two-day warning strike and accused the federal government of giving up on negotiations.

The strike is scheduled to start on Tuesday, September 5 in protest against the Federal Government’s failure to address the problems Nigerians are experiencing as a result of the removal of subsidies. .

During a press conference on Friday at the Labour House in Abuja, NLC President Joe Ajaero made this declaration in reference to resolutions made at the NEC meeting the day before.

The Federal Government is accused by the labor union of giving up on negotiations and failing to implement some of the decisions reached during earlier meetings with the government.

The removal of fuel subsidies was declared on May 29 by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in his inaugural address. Fuel costs as well as the cost of travel and other necessities in Nigeria immediately increased as a result of this.

This prompted organized labor to demonstrate against Tinubu’s administration’s allegedly anti-people policies on August 2nd.

A number of states, including Lagos, Abia, Plateau, Kaduna, Kano, Rivers, Zamfara, Katsina, Cross River, Ebonyi, Enugu, Kwara, Ogun, Imo, Ondo, and Edo, as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), witnessed protests organized by the National Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and their affiliate unions.

Following the demonstration, organized labor groups gave the government a seven-day deadline in which they must “immediately reverse all anti-poor policies of the federal government, including the recent increase in PMS (Premium Motor Spirit) price, increase in public school fees, and release the eight months’ worth of withheld wages for university lecturers and employees.”.

According to the union, Nigerians have lost their sense of security since the President’s inaugural address on May 29, 2023, in which he declared that “subsidy is gone,” and they are calling for an increase in the minimum wage from N30,000 to N200,000.

The Presidency and the unions held numerous meetings to discuss relief measures for Nigerians who are experiencing financial hardship as a result of the end of the petrol subsidy, but the meetings were fruitless.