The Nigeria Labour Congess (NLC) has declared a nationwide strike from next Wednesday, June 6, 2023.
NLC President Joe Ajaero made the announcement, Friday, after an emergency meeting of the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) in Abuja.
Giving reasons for the proposed strike, the president said it was due to the fuel shortages across the country, resulting from President Bola Tinubu’s inaugural speech in which he pronounced the removal of subsidy.
Tinubu in his speech had revealed that the fuel subsidy was no longer justifiable as the 2023 budget made no provisions for it, adding that funds saved from subsidy removal will be channeled into other areas of the economy.
No sooner had president made his announcement, than the pump price of premium motor spirit, pms, increased from N182 per litre to N600, and long queues appeared at the filling stations across the country, throwing many in confusion.
The Congress gave the government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, NNPC, limited up until Wednesday to revert to the old price of fuel, or face an indefinite strike action.
Recall that Mr Tinubu had on Wednesday after his subsidy pronouncement held a meeting with the Nigeria Labour Congress, but it yielded no positive result.
The NLC is demanding that the Federal Government revert to the old price demanded that the Federal Government return to the old price of fuel before resuming negotiations with them.
Ajaero insisted that the government did not enter into any conversation even on palliative measures for Nigerians, hence the reason an industrial action has been scheduled to commence next Wednesday.