By Harry Awurumibe, Editor Abuja Bureau
Most residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) this morning (Tuesday) witnessed power cut as electricity workers have withdrawn their services just as banks, aviation workers, and other sectors of the Nigerian economy have shut their doors against customers in compliance with the two days warning strike called by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
Prompt News reports that checks in many banks in Abuja on Tuesday morning showed that customers are not allowed into the banking halls, a situation which was replicated in most urban centers in Nigeria like Lagos, Enugu, Port Harcourt, Kano and Kaduna.
The story is the same elsewhere as this also affects other sectors, including insurance, aviation and federal secretariat in Abuja, and others.
The current strike followed the decision of NLC to boycott the meeting convened by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong, to avert the two-day warning strike.
This is just as affiliate unions of the NLC, including the National Union of Air Transport Employees, the Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals, the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers, among others have, in a joint circular, directed all stakeholders in the aviation sector to comply with the NLC’s directive to join the strike.
The NLC had last Friday issued the two-day warning strike notice over current hardship caused by the removal of petrol subsidy.
However, only the leadership of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) led by its President, Comrade Festus Osifo attended the meeting with government officials in Abuja yesterday as NLC shunned the meeting.
Before the evening meeting went into a closed-door session, Osifo said the TUC leadership would continue to engage with the federal government to ensure that its demands are addressed.
He said, “In the palliatives that were rolled out, we’ve not seen anything put in place for federal workers. We need a wage award. The palliatives rolled out by the government are not far – reaching. We believe that the government can do much more.”
