The leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress have declared a nationwide strike to begin on November 14, 2023.
The announcement was made after an extraordinary National Executive Council meeting held on Tuesday in Abuja, according to a source who requested anonymity as he was not authorized to disclose the details before the labour centers’ scheduled press release.
Recall that the NLC and TUC leadership had convened what the unions referred to as an extraordinary NEC meeting.
The aim of the meeting was to review the modalities of the planned strike following the brutalisation of the National President of the NLC, Joe Ajaero, review of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Federal Government and the organised labour on October 2, 2023, following the removal of the subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit which the labour centres said has caused “untold hardship” to Nigerians.
The labour unions had, on Friday, issued a five-day ultimatum over the earlier arrest of the National President of the NLC, by the police in Owerri, Imo State, on Wednesday.
The labour centres demanded the redeployment of the commissioner of police in the state and the arrest and prosecution of the aide of the government who was alleged to have perpetrated the attack.
The unions also threatened to embark on a nationwide industrial action if their demands were not met in five days from Friday.
Ajaero was arrested by the police ahead of the state-wide protest in Imo on Wednesday. This was disclosed by the NLC’s Head of Information, Benson Upah.
