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| President of the NLC, Mr. Ayuba Wabba |
The President, Nigeria
Labour Congress, NLC Ayuba Wabba, and his team met for about forty minutes
behind closed-doors on Thursday evening, with the Senate President, Bukola
Saraki, to discuss the nationwide strike over the hike in fuel price.
Wabba told journalists after
the parley that the strike would continue until the Federal Government resumed
talks with the NLC, under his leadership, on the crisis.
The NLC team, however, told
the Senate leadership that the workers were ready to go back to the
negotiation table with the Federal Government over the fuel matter any time
invitation to that effect was extended to them.
He denied reports that labor
leaders walked out on the negotiation team of the Federal Government on Tuesday
night before the strike commenced on Wednesday.
Wabba said, “We are trying
to engage government in negotiations essentially about the trade issue, about
the electricity tariff but importantly about the increase in the pump price of
PMS from N87 to N145 and we have assured the Senate President that at no point
had we walked out on the government.
“In fact, when those issues
were presented and the position of government was made known to us, we did not
actually agree and we requested that we excused them.
“We have not at any point
walked out on government and we are still open to discussion and dialogue
because we are also doing this in the best interest of all of us as working
class and also the larger population of citizens.
“But as things are now, the
strike continues until needed resolutions are arrived at in further
negotiations with the Federal Government.”
Saraki said the meeting with
the leadership of the NLC was part of the process to find a lasting
solution to the impasse and trying to see how the upper chamber could
bring an end to the strike.
He said, “I am happy to
report that the NLC has shown its commitment to continue to dialogue with
government and our role is to see that we facilitate and ensure that the
dialogue can address the issues.
“I am encouraged by what
they have said and confident that we would be able to do this. We will play our
own role in facilitating and ensuring that we can bring the two parties
together so that we can find a lasting solution that will reduce the hardships
that Nigerians are going through.”
Meanwhile, the House of
Representatives on Thursday called for the payment of what it tagged a living
wage to Nigerian workers to cushion the effects of the one hundred and forty
five Naira new pump price of petrol on the people.
This was an indirect support
for a rise in the national minimum wage from eighteen thousand Naira, but the
House did not say how much a new minimum wage could be.
Labour has since demanded an
increase of the minimum wage to fifty six thousand Naira.
Lawmakers also appealed to
the leadership of the NLC to suspend the strike.
The Speaker of the House, Yakubu
Dogara, spoke with reporters soon after a meeting between the House and the
leadership of the NLC ended about 6.45pm on Thursday at the National Assembly.