The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday said prioritising the welfare needs of Nigerian workers for enhanced living standards remains a crucial aspect of its advocacy.
The comment followed after three months since the organised labour and the federal government signed a 15-point agreement in October, 2023 to implement palliative measures to ease the hardship caused by the removal of fuel subsidy.
However, some of the items in the Memorandum of Understanding are yet to be fully implemented.
Amidst persistent hardship, Nigerians have began to ask questions on whether the labour centre has renegade its stance to bring government to it’s knee on total implementation of the agreement.
Recalled that on 3rd October, 2023 both NLC and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) suspended the earlier planned strike, the last move to ensure that the federal government address hardship posed by the fuel subsidy removal as a matter of urgency.
However, NLC head of information and public affairs, Comrade Benson Upah who made a comment on the progress of the deal yesterday, stated that negotiations would soon commerce on a new minimum wage which is expected to address multiple-faceted challenges faced by the Nigerian workers in the midst of hardship.
Asked whether NLC has given up on the struggle in the face of persistent hardship, Upah maintained that the organised labour has since sent list of negotiation team to the federal government and has been keenly waiting for the formal constitution of the Minimum Wage for better working conditions for workers and living conditions for Nigerians.
Speaking further he said, “Certainly, we couldn’t have given up on the struggle for better working conditions for workers and living conditions for Nigerians.
We have since sent the list of our representatives to the government at its instance. We are waiting for the formal constitution of the Minimum Wage Committee”.
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