The Nigeria Labour Congress says the nationwide strike scheduled for Monday, June 3 will still go on as planned.
This comes after a meeting between the top echelon of the National Assembly and the national executives of the NLC and Trade Union Congress (TUC) ended in deadlock on Sunday, June 2.
The meeting was aimed at convincing the organised labour to embrace dialogue and shelve their planned strike action scheduled for Monday.
Recall that Labour had announced plans to commence an indefinite strike nationwide following the federal government’s inability to meet its demand for a new minimum wage.
The meeting which was called by principal officers of the National Assembly was presided by the Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajuddeen Abbas.
Present at the meeting were the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume; Chief of Staff to the President, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila; Minister of Finance, Dr Wale Edun;Minister of Budget and National Planning, Atiku Bagudu.
Others were Minister of State for Labour and Productivity, Nkiruka Onyejiocha; Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris; Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi and Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Folasade Yemi-Esan.
Addressing newsmen after the closed-door meeting which lasted for four hours, President of the TUC, said;
“The Senate President appealed to us to call off the strike. But we can’t sit here and call off the strike because we have others organs. We will take the appeals to our various organs.
We don’t have the powers to call off the strike action. For now, the strike action will commence, while we discuss with our organs.”
Meanwhile, the NLC has announced it will continue with the strike.
Meanwhile, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) says the Labour union has shut down the national grid, resulting in a blackout nationwide.
In a statement released, the TCN said the national grid shut down occurred at about 2.19 am on 3rd June 2024.
The statement reads
‘’GRID SHUT DOWN: UNION DELIBERATELY SHUT DOWN THE NATIONAL GRID.
The Transmission Company of Nigeria hereby informs the general public that the Labour Union has shut down the national grid, resulting in black out nationwide. The national grid shut down occurred at about 2.19 am this morning, 3rd June 2024.
At about 1:15 am this morning, the Benin Transmission Operator under the independent System Operations unit of TCN reported that all operators were driven away from the control room and that staff that resisted were beaten while some were wounded in the course of forcing them out of the control room and without any form of control or supervision, the Benin Area Control Center was brought to zero.
Other transmission substations that were shut down, by the Labour Union include the Ganmo, Benin, Ayede, Olorunsogo, Akangba and Osogbo Transmission Substations. Some transmission lines were equally opened due to the ongoing activities of the labour union.
On the power generating side, power generating units from different generating stations were forced to shut down some units of their generating plants, the Jebba Generating Station was forced to shut down one of its generating units while three others in the same substation subsequently shut down on very high frequency. The sudden forced load cuts led to high frequency and system instability, which eventually shut down the national grid at 2:19 am.
At about 3.23 am, however, TCN commenced grid recovery, using the Shiroro Substation to attempt to feed the transmission lines supplying bulk electricity to the Katampe Transmission Substation. The situation is such that the labour Union is still obstructing grid recovery nationwide.
We will continue to make effort to recover and stabilize the grid to enable the restoration of normal bulk transmission of electricity to distribution load centres nationwide.”
Nationwide blackout as Labour shuts down National grid.
However, In compliance with the indefinite strike declared by the organized labour, aviation unions have directed its members to withdraw their services across airports in Nigeria.
The unions include the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals (ANAP) and the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE).
Following an emergency meeting held on Sunday,June 2, the unions in a joint statement signed by Comrade Ocheme Aba, General Secretary NUATE; Comrade Frances Akinjole, Deputy General Secretary ATSSSAN; Comrade Abdul Rasaq Saidu, Secretary General ANAP and Comrade Olayinka Abioye General Secretary NAAPE, directed all branches to comply. The withdrawal is expected to take effect by 12:00 am on Monday June 3.
The statement reads
“In compliance with the directive from our labour labores-—Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria—we hereby inform the general public, aviation service providers, airline operators, aviation businesses and all aviation workers nationwide that starting from 0000hrs of June 3, 2024 all services at all Nigerian airports shall be fully withdrawn till further notice.
Being not oblivious of the fact that many international flights to Nigeria are already airborne, the strike action will commence at international terminals on 4th of June, 2024.
All aviation workers should recognize the seriousness of this struggle and comply unfailingly. All Branch officers of our unions shall ensure full compliance at all airports.”
