NLC, FG meets Monday, rejects Labour Minister attendance
Nigeria’s apex labour union, Nigeria Labour Congress is set to meet with the Federal Government Monday. The focus of the discussion will be the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on subsidy removal palliatives.
President of the NLC, Joe Ajaero, voiced his concerns in a statement released on Sunday, October 29, 2023. He pointed fingers at government officials indulging in foreign luxury products, attributing this to the alarming depreciation of the national currency.
Ajaero cautioned that the nation faced severe consequences if the naira didn’t stabilise against the American dollar soon.
He emphasised the urgent need for public officials to shun foreign goods, asserting that this practice was directly linked to the plummeting value of the naira in international markets.
The NLC threatened to boycott the impending meeting, citing their deep dissatisfaction with the Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong.
According to him, the strained relationship between the minister and organised labor had reached an irreparable point. Ajaero made it clear that the NLC would not participate in any meeting attended by Minister Lalong.
“If that meeting is to be held, it will be without the Minister of Labour and Employment (Simon Lalong) because we will not be part of any meeting with the Federal Government that the Minister of Labour and Employment will attend,” Ajaero firmly stated.
The NLC helmsman highlighted a previous incident involving the National Union of Road Transport Workers, where all parties, including the police, were supposed to vacate the premises pending dispute resolution. However, this directive was ignored.
