.jpeg "NLC and TUC announce a nationwide strike.")
Tuesday in Abuja, TUC President Festus Osifo announced the strike at a joint press conference with NLC President Joe Ajaero.
Ajaero, who spoke first, lambasted the Federal Government for taking a careless approach to union demands since the subsidy withdrawal policy went into effect.
He charged that during the 21-day ultimatum and the ensuing successful 2-day nationwide warning strike on the 5th and 6th of September 2023, the government purposefully refused to engage in a meaningful and constructive discourse within the bounds of good faith.
The National Executive Councils (NEC) of the NLC and TUC, according to the NLC President, conducted detailed analyses of the country's current position in their different sessions, taking into account the severe sufferings and deprivation experienced by the people in all states of the federation.
According to him, both NECs denounced the government's apparent deliberate sluggishness and delay in dealing with the effects of the increase in the price of gasoline on Nigerians.
Ajaero also mentioned that the NLC and the TUC NEC-in-session observed that there is no disagreement between the Labour Party and the Government regarding the existence of widespread suffering, destitution, and hunger in the nation as a result of the increase in the price of gasoline, which necessitates the urgent need for corrective action.
He claimed that the government had completely abdicated its duty and displayed a reprehensible unwillingness to take action, leaving Nigerians and their workers to suffer in agonizing poverty and pain.
He continued by charging the federal administration with constant grandstanding and blocking any opportunities for a constructive engagement with organized labor about how to relieve Nigerians of the severe hunger and misery they were experiencing all around the country.
"As a result of the Government's outrageous increase in the price of gasoline (PMS), the Government has persisted in displaying not only a refusal to lessen the severe hardship in the nation but also a total lack of intention to make positive changes and empathy for the citizens of Nigeria, who are impoverished in many ways.
"Therefore, the demands of Nigerian workers and peoples as previously outlined in our mutually agreed roadmap to salvaging the economy and protecting workers and Nigerians from the monumental hardship have not been substantially met by the federal government,"
"The two labor centers' grace period has passed, but the brutal and repressive power of the Police and Government still pose a serious threat to trade unions,"The National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) is still being used unlawfully by the government, with the assistance of the police who have duplicated the NURTW leadership.
"The Lagos State administration continues to illegally occupy the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) in complete disrespect of the Courts and the laws.
The NLC President claimed, "That the State has continued to use its buying and coercive powers to extort and sponsor serious campaigns of calumny against trade union leaders in the social media instead of making efforts to lift the burden on the masses."
As soon as Osifo took control of the microphone, he said that the NLC and TUC NEC-in-Session had decided to: "take our destinies into our own hands and save our country in the spirit of the Independence Day celebration and to demonstrate our resolve for a truly independent Nigeria."
"To start an indefinite and complete shutdown of the country on Tuesday, October 3, 2023, at 00:00. to order all Nigerian employees to stop working at their individual places of employment as of October 3rd.
To order all affiliates and state councils to begin organizing right away in order to take appropriate action to organize street protests and marches until the government complies with our requests
"We call on all patriotic Nigerians to band together across the country to help this government refocus its policies and initiatives on the needs of the people," the statement reads.