President Tinubu to Announce Wage Awards for Workers Amidst Fuel Subsidy Removal

 President Bola Tinubu is set to unveil wage awards next week to alleviate the impact of the removal of petrol subsidy on workers….CONTINUE READING....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

The labor movement, consisting of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), had consistently advocated for the payment of wage awards to mitigate the effects of subsidy removal on workers before embarking on negotiations for a new minimum wage next year.

Comrade Festus Osifo, the President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), disclosed this during an interview on Channels Television’s “Politics Today” program on Tuesday night.

The TUC had issued a two-week ultimatum to the federal government to address its demands or face industrial action by workers nationwide.

Osifo explained that the Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong, informed the TUC that he had met with President Tinubu and the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, regarding the wage issue.

According to Osifo, Lalong conveyed that the wage matter had been reviewed, and President Tinubu would make an announcement in the coming days after fine-tuning the details.

“The Minister of Labor informed us that he had discussions with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Minister of Finance, and they have reviewed the wage award issue.

The President asked them to refine the details before making an announcement.

“The Minister told us that these issues would be streamlined, but because the President is currently out of the country, he requested an additional two weeks.

We insisted that we don’t have an extra two weeks to spare. After further discussions, he assured us that the President would make a formal announcement next week.”

Osifo mentioned that the union had also engaged with the federal government regarding the distribution of palliatives to states and would monitor its implementation to ensure fairness. Additionally, they raised concerns about taxation and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).

Regarding the NLC’s two-week warning strike, Osifo clarified that the TUC did not withdraw from it because they had never agreed to participate in the strike in the first place.

He cited NLC President Joe Ajaero’s statement that the TUC couldn’t back out of a strike they had not initiated themselves.