- By Halimah Olamide
A last minute efforts by the Federal Government to avert the nationwide strike by the organised labour appears to have failed as representatives of the Nigerian Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress Friday night shunned the meeting which was to be coordinated by the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila and the Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong.
The representatives of the government were said to have waited endlessly for the labour representatives and all calls to them failed to produce the desired result.
A presidency source told the NPO Reports late Friday that Gbajabiamila and Lalong were optimistic that the leadership of the NLC and the Trade Union Congress would show up.
However, hours of waiting, the government representatives were said to have reported back to the President that the meeting failed to hold.
Meanwhile different affiliate bodies of the labour keep giving indications of their total support for the strike. Already there are fears that the nation’s electricity supply, aviation and other transport sectors would be shut down with the entire civil service forced to stay at home.
NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) announced plans to commence indefinite nationwide strike beginning from Tuesday October 3, 2023 to drive home their demands after the removal of fuel subsidy and the attendant sufferings and hike in prices of goods and services.
The aviation unions which issued a joint statement on the indefinite strike are the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) and the Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals (ANAP).
In the notice to their branches nationwide signed by Comrade Frances Akinjole, principal deputy general secretary, ATSSSAN; Comrade Umoh Ofonime, deputy general secretary, NAAPE, and Comrade Abdulrasaq Saidu, secretary general, ANAP, the unions said that as affiliates of the two Labour centres, “we are obligated to mobilise effectively for the action.”
Parts of the statement read: “All branches of the above named unions are hereby directed to coalesce within the JAC of your various organisations, together with the respective State Councils of the NLC and TUC in all the states for the nationwide strike commencing from zero hour of Tuesday 3rd day of October, 2023.
“All aviation workers must comply to ensure optimal success of this indefinite strike as directed. By this circular, all employers in the aviation industry, security agencies are accordingly notified.”