In response to the Trade Union Congress’s request to alleviate the hardships faced by public sector workers due to subsidy removal, the Federal Government has established a two-week timeframe for addressing wage allocation, tax exemptions, and allowances.
Additionally, the government has committed to defining the procedures for accessing the recently announced intervention fund aimed at supporting Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises.
Notably, the Trade Union Congress emphasized that only federal workers had yet to benefit from the government’s previously implemented relief measures.
Comrade Festus Osifo, President of TUC, made these statements during a meeting with the Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong, on Monday. However, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) leadership chose to boycott this meeting, despite its intention to avert the two-day warning strike already declared by the NLC.
The meeting, originally scheduled for 3:00 pm, commenced at 5:32 pm and concluded within 30 minutes. It addressed pressing matters such as the implementation of palliatives, wage awards, tax exemptions, public sector worker allowances, and the modalities for distributing the N70 billion SME fund, among other issues.
Simon Lalong stated, “We will address these issues within the next two weeks and reconvene for further discussions. While deliberations are ongoing, we have agreed that there should be no strike.”
Prior to the closed-door session, Osifo expressed TUC’s commitment to engaging with the federal government to ensure the fulfillment of their demands. Importantly, TUC confirmed that they will not participate in the NLC’s two-day warning strike.
