The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has announced its intention to rally its members, without notice to the government, for an indefinite nationwide strike in the event of a rise in the present petrol price.
The president of the union, Joe Ajaero, said this on Monday during the African Trade Union alliance meeting in Abuja, on the heels of the disclosure by petroleum marketers that fuel pump prices will rise to N680 and N720 per liter in the coming weeks.
“As we are here they are contemplating increasing the pump price of petroleum products and the federal ministry of labour and employment, for some time now, will only go to the federal ministry of justice to come up with injunctions to hold the hands of labour not to respond,” he said.
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“Let me say this, Nigerian workers will not give any notice if we wake up from our sleep to hear that they have tempered with prices of petroleum products.
“They have started floating ideas of a likely increase in the pump price of petroleum products.”
Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) said on Sunday that the lack of dollar liquidity in the Investor and Exporter window, and the depreciation of the naira in the parallel market, if not urgently contained, will push the pump price up.
The increase will see Nigerians paying an additional N103, as currently, petrol is being sold at N577 per liter in Lagos and N617 and above per liter in many other parts of the country.
Background of the strike threat
Since the fuel subsidy was removed in June, organized labor has been at loggerheads with the government over the provision of palliatives to mitigate the impact.
Among their demands, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the NLC are asking the federal government to increase the minimum wage to at least N200,000 per month from the current N30,000 per month. They are also asking the federal government to revive the CNG project for labor centers.
Other demands include rehabilitation of the nation’s refineries, fixing road and rail networks, and reviewing multiple taxes on businesses.
With the government dragging its feet in meeting these demands, organized labor on July 26, issued a seven-day ultimatum to the federal government to reverse all “anti-poor” and “insensitive” policies.
The NLC said no going back on the strike unless the federal government meets the following demands: “the immediate reversal of all anti-poor policies of the federal government including the recent hike in PMS price, increase in public school fees, the release of the eight months withheld Salary of university lecturers and workers”. It also added “the immediate inauguration of the Presidential Steering Committee.”
But in response to the union’s demands, the federal government invoked a restraining order of the national industrial court, stopping organized labor from embarking on any industrial action concerning the removal of petrol subsidy.
However, defying the government and the court, the unions embarked on a nationwide protest on August 2, prompting the federal government to initiate contempt proceedings against them for disobeying the court order.
Though the protest was suspended on August 3 following a series of negotiations between the leaders of organized labor and the federal government, the NLC has not closed the chapter on a nationwide strike. The union said the conduct of the federal government led by Bola Tinubu “suggests it does not intend to commit itself to the MoU it signed with NLC and TUC.”