Nigerian govt upbeat labour will shelve planned subsidy strike

The Federal Government has expressed confidence that the labour unions would shift their proposed strike slated to begin on Wednesday.

The Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, disclosed this to journalists after a closed-door meeting with the leadership of the unions on Tuesday in Abuja.

The former speaker of the House of Representatives said the unions have accepted the proposal for palliatives to cushion the effect of the fuel subsidy removal as announced on Monday by President Bola Tinubu in a nationwide broadcast.

He said: ‘’We appealed to labour to call off the strike tomorrow. And they all agreed that Mr. President’s broadcast was a welcome development and they will go back home to talk to the leaders that are not here today.

‘’So, we are hopeful that they will do the rightful and call off the strike tomorrow.”

The President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Festus Osifo, said the meeting with the federal government was fruitful based on the president’s Monday broadcast.

READ ALSO: Fuel subsidy: Nigerian govt, labour resumes meeting on palliatives, NLC president absent

He said the unions were informed by government representatives that the various palliatives proposed by the president were just the baseline and that more palliatives will be coming.

‘’For us, we felt that the President has said that N1 trillion has been saved in the last two months and that what he proposed is not far-reaching.

‘’Now, as part of the principle of negotiation, when anything is put on the table, you’ll accept but you’ll push for more.

‘’So we told the government what they put on the table is not enough, and that they can do more.

‘’We think for example, that 3,000 buses are not sufficient. By the time you divide 3,000 by 37, you will see how many they would come up to,’’ he said.

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