Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have suspended their planned nationwide strike that was scheduled to start today, Monday, September 28, in protest against the hike in the price of fuel and electricity tariff.
The strike was suspended after reaching a consensus with the Federal Government early Monday morning at a meeting between both parties.
The government, in a meeting which dragged until 2 a.m this morning and led by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, had agreed to suspend the electricity tariff for two weeks while a committee comprising labour and government representatives will advise further.
The Minister of State, Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo (SAN) earlier tweeted that there was hope the industrial crisis might be avoided.
He wrote in the early hours of Monday: “Still negotiating with labour at exactly 12.34am. Some progress have been made. Concrete proposals on the table from both sides. Details being worked on by the temporary Secretariat. Gradually moving towards a point of convergence. Let’s hope….”
Keyamo later tweeted that the strike has been suspended.
He wrote: “FG & LABOUR reach agreement at 2:53am. Deregulation to stay as Govt rolls out palliatives for labour (details in 2 weeks); Electricity tariffs suspended by Govt for 2 weeks with a joint Committee headed by @fkeyamo to examine the justification for the new policy. Strike suspended.”
