NewsNigeriaPoliticsLabour unions plan massive strike over cost of living crisis

The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and the Trade Union Congress, TUC, have threatened to go on a nationwide strike in two weeks if the government fails to take decisive action to alleviate the economic hardship rocking the country.

The workers’ union lamented the “massive hardship” the removal of the petrol subsidy and the spiralling inflation linked to the crash of the Nigerian currency, the naira, against the United States dollar has wrought.

They also accused the authorities of neglecting “the welfare of citizens and Nigerian workers.” The hardship, they said, has left them with no alternative but to take action.

The NLC along with the TUC is also pained that the government had yet to implement the pay raise last-minute agreement on 2 October 2023 that averted a devastating nationwide strike.

“These agreements which were reached with the federal government were focused on addressing the massive suffering and the general harsh socioeconomic consequences of the ill-conceived and ill-executed IMF/World Bank induced hike in the price of PMS and the Devaluation of the Naira,” a joint statement by the NLC and TUC reads.

“These dual policies have had, as we predicted, dire economic consequences for the masses and workers of Nigeria. Widespread hunger is now ravishing millions of Nigerians, with the workers purchasing power significantly eroded, while insecurity has assumed an increasing dimension.”

“Nigerians are left wondering where their next meals will come from and what tomorrow might bring. The level of panic and anxiety amongst the populace has become nightmarish unfortunately, in the midst of all these, it appears our government is bereft of appropriate measures to ameliorate the huge burden it has foisted on the citizenry.”

The unions expect President Bola Tinubu to come up with a post-subsidy welfare package for workers between Friday, February 9 and Thursday, February 22 as they gear up to down tools and protest.

“Constrained by this development and recognising the urgency of the situation and the imperative of ensuring the protection and defence of the rights and dignity of Nigerian workers and citizens, the NLC and TUC hereby issue a stern ultimatum to the Federal Government to honour their part of the understanding within 14 days from tomorrow, the 9th day of February 2024,” they stated.

“It is regrettable that we are compelled to resort to such measures, but the persistent neglect of the welfare of citizens and Nigerian workers and the massive hardship leave us with no choice.”