The NLC gives the Nigerian government 2 weeks to reduce petrol prices or…

The Nigerian Labor Congress (NLC) has issued a two-week ultimatum to the federal government to reduce petrol prices and open negotiations on a new national minimum wage.

The union in a communiqué issued Thursday and signed by its president, Joe Ajaero, expressed concern over what they described as the deepening hardships experienced by workers and society at large as a result of the Federal Government’s economic policies.

The ultimatum follows a joint meeting of the NLC National Executive Council and Central Working Committee held in Abuja on Wednesday.

The deadline begins today, Friday, with labor groups warning that failure to meet their demands within the period will force them to take remedial measures as directed by the relevant organs.

The workers are again demanding that the price of premium motorbike spirits, commonly known as petrol, be immediately reduced. Based on the two-week ultimatum, the government is expected to take steps to reduce petrol prices nationwide to the levels that will prevail when the current national minimum wage is signed in 2024.

The labor center wants these cuts to cushion the impact of the energy crisis on workers and society at large. Unions linked high fuel prices to increases in transport, food and other essential goods, arguing that expensive fuel had increased financial pressure on households.

“Taking steps to reduce gasoline prices across the country to the price when the national minimum wage is signed in 2024 to cushion the impact of the energy crisis on workers and society, as other countries in the world are doing,” he said.

The meeting considered what the labor center described as a serious economic and political crisis facing Nigerian workers and the country as a whole.

Workers argue that inflation continues to rise, the naira remains depressed, workers’ wages are losing purchasing power, and the cost of living has become unbearable.

“The ruling elite, acting as enforcers of the monopoly of global capital, have shown an alarming indifference to the suffering of the people, and have chosen to shift the burden of their fiscal negligence onto the already impoverished working masses,” the communique said.

The Labor Center also stated that no society can develop sustainably under a neo-liberal regime of corporate looting and slavery, and called on Nigerian workers to remain organized and resolute in what it described as a collective struggle for a just and equal country.

The NLC’s main demand is the renegotiation of the national minimum wage, which unions consider increasingly inadequate given the rising cost of living and depreciation of the naira.

The labor center stated that the current wage of N70,000, about $50 per month, has lost much of its value and workers are struggling to pay for basic needs, including food, shelter, healthcare, transportation and education.

Therefore, workers want the Federal Government to begin renegotiating the national minimum wage before the end of October.

Unions are demanding a living wage that reflects the true cost of living and preserves what they describe as the dignity of Nigerian workers. The report warned that further delays by the Federal Government were unacceptable.

The NLC further accused government policy of allowing high prices to continue, arguing that the situation had enriched a handful of oil marketers while exacerbating the hardships of the wider community.

Apart from petrol and wages, the NLC is also demanding tax relief for workers as agreed with the government, as well as immediate wage payments to help cushion the impact of the rising cost of living.

“These measures constitute the minimum necessary to alleviate the suffering of Nigerian workers and restore dignity to their lives,” the communique said.

The Labor Center argues that the government cannot continue to demand sacrifices from workers while failing to provide relief for the economic stress they face.