Presidency: FG Working Assiduously to End Strike, Meets Labour Thursday

By Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja

The Presidency yesterday in Abuja said it had intensified efforts to persuade the organised labour to call off its ongoing strike action.

A statement by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, said the federal government was working assiduously to ensure the strike is called off.

“The Presidency wishes to assure that the federal government is taking every step necessary to get the unions to call off the strike,” he said.

He said the organised labour had accepted its demand to reconvene the tripartite meeting on the proposed new national minimum wage.

According to him, the meeting between labour leadership and the representatives of various employers of labour including the governments had been rescheduled to reconvene on October 4.

Shehu explained the tripartite nature of the meeting, saying it is made up of representatives of the public sector, that is, federal and state governments, as well as the private sector which he said comprised the largest private employer group and the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA).

He listed other members of the body to include the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce Industry Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) and Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMES).

Shehu said invitation letters had since been dispatched to all intending participants.

“At the moment, the Presidency understands that the combined leadership of the unions, having met and deliberated on the position of the government have now set in motion a process of consultations with their constituent members to determine their next line of action,” the statement added.

Labour had embarked on a one-week warning strike, with effect from Thursday, to press for the approval of a new minimum wage of N45,000.

Activities in several sectors of the economy were distrupted by the labour leaders, particularly in places where the observance of the strike was ignored.