Strike: Why agreements with labour yet to be implemented - FG

The federal government, on Friday said some of the agreements it reached with members of the organised labour during the October last year negotiation were yet to be implemented because some of them were not implementable immediately.

The government specifically explained that one of the agreements, which is setting of conservation centres for compressed natural gas (CNG), would take some time before it is put in place, stressing that the committee handling it has gone far.

Daily Trust Saturday had reported how both the leaders of the organised labour and the representatives of government entered into a memorandum of understanding on October 2, 2023 after a 16-point agreement was reached.

The agreement was for the government to address the suffering of the masses emanating from fuel subsidy removal and find a lasting solution to the devaluation of the naira, inflation, insecurity, among others.

Expressing its dissatisfaction with the way the government is handling the issue, members of the organised labour declared that it would begin a nationwide strike in the next 14 days, starting from today, February 9, 2024 if those agreements were not implemented.

But addressing journalists in Abuja on Friday, the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, maintained that all the agreements were not implementable at once, calling on labour leaders to give it more time.

“All of these agreements are not going to be done the same day. Some can’t be done in two, three or four months. Like the CNG, it is a process that’s ongoing, and I have just told Nigerians what the CNG group has been doing in the last four months.

“We have commenced deliveries on those agreements. We have been reaching out to the organised labour because the president is committed to these agreements. He has good faith, that’s why we don’t want anybody to shut down the economy at any time because it will affect everybody.