- There were no representative from the Labour Unions
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) did not attend the dialogue with the Federal Government to prevent the nationwide indefinite strike scheduled for October 3.
On September 26, the NLC and TUC announced their plan for an indefinite strike starting from October 3 due to the government’s failure to meet their demands.
The meeting was supposed to take place today at 3:00pm in the Aso Villa Conference room, which is located in the office of the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila.
The invitation letter, dated September 29, was signed by Emmanuel Igbinosun, the Director of Trade Union Services and Industrial Relations, on behalf of the Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong.
The letter titled “Impending labour union strike invitation to a meeting”, read in part: “I bring you greetings from the Honourable Ministers of Labour and Employment.
“I am directed to invite the leadership of the Trade Union Congress Nigeria (TUC) for a meeting with the Chief of Staff to Mr. President on the above subject, scheduled as follows Date: Friday, September 294, 2023; Time: 12 noon. Venue: Aso Villa, Conference Room of the Office of the Chief of Staff to Mr. President.”
However, present at the Aso Villa was Gbajabiamila, Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong but there were no representative from the Labour Unions as of 5.30 pm.
This led to the cancellation of the proposed meeting by the FG
In a response to the Minister, the NLC, TUC in a letter dated September 29 and signed by Emmanuel Ugboaja, NLC’s General Secretary, and Nuhu Toro, TUC’s Secretary General, demanded a new date next week.
The letter titled ‘Re-impending labour union strike: Invitation to meeting”, read: “We extend our warm regards to you and the entire team at your Ministry.
“We wish to express our sincere regrets for our inability to attend the proposed meeting between us and the Federal Government, scheduled for today the 29th Day of September due to already scheduled engagements our officials have outside Abuja.
“Regrettably, the short notice provided for this meeting has posed significant logistical challenges for the majority of our leadership, rendering their participation unfeasible at this time.
“In light of this, and in the interest of ensuring that any discussions held are representative of the NLC’s and TUC’s collective stance, we find it imperative to request the rescheduling of the meeting.
“We trust that this request for a rescheduled meeting will be taken into consideration, and we look forward to your understanding in this matter.”