Labour unions disagree on shutting down Nigeria

The Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, has maintained that the Trade Union Congress, TUC, cannot stop its proposed nationwide strike.

This is as it appears that the division between labour unions is widening as they seem not to be on the same page on the proposed strike.

The NLC President, Joe Ajaero, had yesterday said that the TUC could not back out of a strike without giving notice.

According to report, the 21-day notice given by the NLC to the Federal Government will expire on Thursday.

Recall that the TUC did not take part in the two-day warning strike by the NLC on September 5 and 6.

The TUC President, Festus Osifo, had argued that talks should be allowed to go on between the FG and the Labour Unions instead of embarking on a strike.

Ajaero told reporters yesterday, “From what you can see from our last warning strike, you see that we can do it alone.

“We can work independently; we can work jointly when we agree.”

The TUC president, however, said its members have not been served any notice to go on strike.

According to him, the Congress had agreed to give the FG time it solicited for, which is also for President Bola Tinubu to return from the ongoing United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, United States.

Osifo said: “Initially, they asked for two weeks, but we rejected it. Then, they came to one week. We will meet to review the situation and come up with a joint position.

“For us in TUC, we feel that it is always better when we work together, when we synergise because governments all over the world are coming together. It will be too bad if we cannot come together. Whichever way we look at it, it is always better to work together.

“In terms of organised Labour being disorganised, I would agree to that claim because our aim is to ensure the masses are taken care of.”