Festus Osifo, the president of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), stated that the union is sick of hearing the Ministry of Labour make empty promises about implementing the union’s demands for the provision of palliatives for Nigerians in response to the suffering being experienced as a result of the elimination of fuel subsidies.
The TUC demands included wage increases for civil servants to compensate for the pain caused by the elimination of fuel subsidies, tax exemption for certain groups of workers, and the establishment of organizations to ensure the successful execution of the federal government’s palliatives.
Simon Lalong, the minister of labour and employment, earlier gave Nigerian workers the assurance that the government will quickly resolve the pay award issue.
In addition, the minister urged the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to refrain from going on its anticipated indefinite strike and give the government time to resolve all outstanding concerns.
However, Osifo stated that the union was tired of the numerous unfulfilled promises made by the federal government in a conversation with Channels TV on Tuesday, September 26.
“In the last meeting we had with the Ministry of Labour, they told us the same thing that the president was out of the country and when he comes back they believe that he will make the pronouncement. But I saw this morning that he said the pronouncement will come soon but again we are really tired of it soon, we want a definite pronouncement, and we want a definite solution to this lingering issue.
“At the end of the day, we have been hearing dates, we have been hearing it will come today, tomorrow or next tomorrow, we are relatively tired of promises, all we want is action. Nigerians are tired of a lot of meetings, lots of promises, what we want is concrete action, so we are tired of promises and promises,” he said.
