Nigeria (Commonwealth Union) _ According to union officials, Nigeria’s two largest labor unions want to begin an indefinite strike the following week in protest of the country’s rising cost of living as a result of the government’s elimination of a well-liked but expensive petrol subsidy.
The two largest unions, the National Labor Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), announced on Tuesday that the strike would start on October 3. The union leaders declared in a unified statement that there would be a complete closure “until government satisfies the demand of Nigerian workers, and in fact Nigerian masses.”
The Federal Government has declined to engage in serious dialogue and establish agreements with organized labor on crucial matters relating to the terrible increase in the price of gasoline that has caused a great deal of misery for Nigerian workers and the general populace.
President Bola Tinubu has been urged by unions to reconsider his decision in May to end the long-standing subsidy that had kept fuel prices low but was depleting government coffers.
The administration had urged unions to stay in talks rather than go on strike, arguing that doing so would harm an economy already struggling with double-digit inflation, a lack of foreign currency, and low oil production. Given that the majority of businesses and homes rely on gasoline generators for their electricity, prices have increased significantly, including those for food, transportation, and power.
The removal of the subsidy and the removal of foreign exchange controls are two of Tinubu’s largest reforms. He has justified them, claiming that while they will cause hardships in the short term, they were essential to attracting investment and bolstering government coffers.
Living and transportation costs have been severely impacted in Africa’s largest economy as a result of the government ending its fuel subsidy and devaluing the naira significantly. Fuel prices have tripled since Tinubu took office in May, while inflation is at a 25 percent rate.
The administration of Tinubu admits the challenges and claims to have given money to state governments to lessen the effects of the economic changes. Providing transportation options and small company loans are further strategies. While the TUC represents senior bank employees and high school teachers among others, the NLC brings together unions for several industries, including nurses, road workers, and printers.
How much support the industrial action would receive was unclear. President Tinubu has implemented a number of economic reforms since taking office on May 29. These include eliminating the well-liked but pricey subsidy, which cost $10 billion last year, and easing the foreign exchange regime. Investors have praised the reforms, but unions claim they have resulted in skyrocketing expenses at a time when Nigerians are already contending with the greatest inflation in nearly two decades.
Ending the fuel subsidy, according to the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), was “hurried with no thought-out plan to cushion the effects on workers and Nigerians.” Every family feels the impact of the government’s severe policies, which have led to huge price increases for goods and services, transportation, food, and tuition, just to name a few.
Authorities announced a number of initiatives to mitigate the effects of the reduction in fuel subsidies before to the protests, including a 500 billion naira ($652 million) package.
Millions of employees across the majority of the industries that make up the largest economy in Africa, including a portion of the oil sector, are represented by Nigeria’s two main labor federations, the NLC and the Trade Union Congress. However, millions of people work in the economy’s primarily unorganized, non-unionized sectors.
