The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) on Monday suspended their planned strike scheduled for Wednesday.

Development Diaries reports that the decision was part of the resolutions reached at the end of a meeting with a federal government delegation.

Prior to the suspension of the planned strike over the petroleum subsidy removal, the National Industrial Court (NIC), on Monday, restrained the unions from embarking on the strike.

Similarly, health workers, under the aegis of the Joint Health Workers’ Union (JOHESU) and Assembly of Healthcare Professionals (AHPA), have suspended their indefinite strike.

It is understood that this decision was made after the unions’ meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the presidential villa also on Monday.

According to the JOHESU National Vice Chairman, Obinna Ogbonna, the plea, assurance and body language of President Tinubu convinced the union members to give a 21-day timeline for the implementation of some of their demands.

The president’s meeting with the unions to discuss critical issues is commendable.

It is open for all to see that if the federal government is willing to discuss and negotiate with grieving parties, there would not be cases of recurrent strikes which end up having adverse effects on the masses.

The promptness and proactiveness that seem synonymous with the present administration were lacking in the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

For instance, Buhari never met with the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), whose strike made the children of average Nigerians and the underprivileged lose two semesters for no fault of theirs in 2022.

Development Diaries, however, reiterates its call on the Tinubu-led administration to communicate how it plans to address the legitimate demands for an improved minimum wage for workers and subsidise systems of public transportation.

Also, how does the government plan to tackle food inflation as millions of poor Nigerians are already bearing the brunt of the subsidy removal?

Photo source: Nigeria Labour Congress