FCT, Abuja — The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has justified its utilization of ultimatums as a final option, asserting that it favors dialogue and strives for “the proper actions to be taken” rather than causing unnecessary disruptions.
In response to public backlash on Channels TV’s “The Morning Brief,” Uchenna Ekwe, the NLC’s Head of International Relations, emphasized that ultimatums are only employed after numerous private reminders to the government regarding unresolved agreements.
“Usually people see when NLC starts putting warning and if you notice the comments, people will say we don’t want a strike, it will disrupt. Balancing all these, Let me make this clear, the NLC is actually never interested in a strike, we don’t want a strike; we want the right things to be done,” Ekwe said.
“Before you see us issue a public ultimatum, there must have been many communications that are not meant public to the government system, calling their attention to probably an agreement like in this case.”
The recent ultimatum, which was issued in conjunction with the Trade Union Congress (TUC), calls for the implementation of a 16-point agreement that was reached in October 2023. This agreement, as explained by Ekwe, has made limited progress, with certain aspects, such as wage awards, being partially or completely disregarded by various states.
Dismissing concerns about putting on a show, the NLC representative stated that such actions do not benefit workers or citizens. He specifically criticized the inadequate measures taken by most states, labeling them as “absurd.”
The organized labor has announced that it is granting the Federal Government a 14-day period, starting from today, February 9 to February 14, 2024, to fulfill its obligations outlined in the agreement with the labor unions.
