The Federal Executive Council, FEC, has approved a 30-day implementation plan for the Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, between the Federal Government and organized labour.
This was made known through the Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong, on Monday, October 16, in Abuja.
It will be recalled that on September 26, 2023, the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC and Trade Union Congress, TUC, directed their members and affiliate bodies to embark on a mass action on October 3 as a protest against the petrol subsidy removal and economic hardship in the country.
However, on October 1, the Federal Government summoned an emergency meeting to engage the organized labour as a measure to stop the nationwide strike.
The leadership of the organized labour will thereafter suspend the planned indefinite strike as they reached an agreement to shelve the planned action in an MoU signed by Joe Ajaero, NLC president, Festus Osifo, TUC president, and representatives of the federal government.
Lalong, speaking on the MoU, said it was presented to the council, adding that the document has 15 items of agreement.
He said one part of the MoU will be filed in the court, adding that the process has commenced.
“We presented a memo from the federal ministry of labour and employment. The memo was basically on the agreement between the government and the labour,” Lalong said.
“You are already aware that 15 items are parts of the agreement. But we went beyond mere agreement, we told them that something different is happening because one, part of the agreement is to file it in the court of law which we have set the process already.
“And the other one was the presidential approval. There cannot be any presidential approval more than the Federal Executive Council.
“So we presented them to the Federal Executive Council. We analyzed each and every aspect of the agreement and to show the genuineness and also provide for a harmonious and good industrial relationship and that was why it was presented and it was approved for implementation.
“The council also approved that within these 30 days, we should go with the implementation of the agreement between labour and government.”
Speaking on the sixth item of the MoU, Lalong revealed that the federal government had concluded its meeting with the leadership of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria, RTEAN.
He added that the meeting with the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, has not been concluded.
The sixth item of the MoU borders on the alleged government interference in the activities of the leadership of the NURTW.
