NLC suspends planned nationwide strike over naira crunch

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) on Tuesday suspended their planned strike scheduled to commence on Wednesday over scarcity of naira notes.

The labour unions made this known at the end of their National Executive Council meeting in Abuja.

The two labour unions had threatened to embark on a nationwide from Wednesday, March 29, 2023 following the failure of the Federal Government to institute measures to bring to an end the cash crunch and biting fuel scarcity.

NLC President, Joe Ajaero, said after receiving briefings from its state councils in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, the NLC decided to put on hold the planned stay-at-home directive issued to workers last week.

He said the NLC would resume the planned protest if naira notes became unavailable to Nigerians by the end of two weeks.

On Monday, Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, met with the leadership of the Congress in a last-minute attempt to avert the strike.

At the meeting, Emefiele said steps had been taken to alleviate the sufferings of the masses in relation to the scarcity of the naira.

The CBN governor said a large volume of funds was made available to the deposit money banks, and they were directed to open their branches on Saturdays and Sundays and they complied under strict supervision by the apex bank.

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