As NLC calls off strike

Last night’s announcement by the Nigeria Labour Congress [NLC] that it was had called off the nation-wide strike it embarked upon from Wednesday last week to protest government’s decision to remove subsidies from fuel prices is a welcome development that should enable both parties to return to the negotiating table. Government had earlier said that […]

Last night’s announcement by the Nigeria Labour Congress [NLC] that it was had called off the nation-wide strike it embarked upon from Wednesday last week to protest government’s decision to remove subsidies from fuel prices is a welcome development that should enable both parties to return to the negotiating table. Government had earlier said that negotiations with labour unions will resume only if the strike is called off.
NLC and Trades Union Congress (TUC) declared their intention to embark on indefinite strike action soon after the federal government announced an increase in the pump price of petrol from N86.50/litre to N145/litre. They gave government until midnight of Tuesday May 17 to reverse the policy. Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Babachir David Lawal then invited labour union leaders for talks. The meeting was also attended by Minister of State for Petroleum Ibe Kachikwu; Minister of Information and Culture Alhaji Lai Mohammed; Minister of Budget and National Planning Udoma Udo Udoma; Minister of Solid Minerals Dr. Kayode Fayemi and Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo state, himself a former NLC president. The meeting however ended in a deadlock.
Individuals and other bodies including the House of Representatives also mounted pressure on the labour unions to shelve their planned strike. From the beginning there were signs that labour’s front was not united. The two oil sector unions, Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) declared their support for fuel price deregulation. An NLC faction led by electricity workers’ leader Comrade Ajaero also opposed the strike. At the last minute, TUC also pulled out but NLC leaders went ahead with the strike action. They ignored an injunction that government secured from the National Industrial Court restraining the unions from going on strike. Government also raised the stakes by pledging to implement the no work no pay law on any worker that joins the strike.
In the three working days that the strike lasted, it did not have the impact that labour leaders had hoped for. In most parts of the country schools, hospitals, markets, banks, and government offices remained open. However, towards the end of last week, the strike got a boost when members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities [ASUU], SSANU and a section of health workers joined it.
Even though NLC has consistently opposed fuel price hikes in the country under many military and civilian regimes, there were signs this time that it failed to appreciate the prevailing national mood over the recent hike in petrol pump prices. Most Nigerians are resigned to the reality of fuel subsidy removal. Many Nigerians appear to have accepted the reasons advanced by government for the increase in the pump price of petrol to N145/litre. Many Nigerians also opine that the recent increase must have been the only option left for government; believing that President Muhammadu Buhari who has consistently opposed subsidy withdrawal is now compelled by realities to accept the increase and subsidy withdrawal. There were frantic efforts at the weekend by National Leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Senate President Dr. Bukola Saraki to bring the strike to an end. 
Now that NLC leaders have suspended the strike, we urge them to strive in future to properly redefine labour’s role in society and refrain from embarking on nationwide strike actions over non-labour matters. Ordinarily, this is the duty of opposition political parties. It is also good to obey court orders however nauseating they may be, and National Industrial Court is somewhat notorious for handing down ex parte orders to stop planned strike actions. The best option for labour now is to press its demand for a new minimum wage. Hikes in electricity tariffs and fuel prices, runaway inflation and naira depreciation together make this imperative.