Chima Azubuike, Gombe
Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Gombe state chapter on Sunday, said there is no going back, adding that subsidy is a scam and inexistent for the common man.
Confirming the resolution of the State workers, the chairman of NLC in Gombe state Mohammed Adamu, said the strike will continue until government reverts to the previous petroleum pump price.
He stated this during a joint press briefing with the chairman of Trade Union Congress Isa Abubakar, at the labour house, in Gombe.
Adamu said, “Gombe state chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and indeed the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have agreed to join the nationwide strike action directed by the organised labour national Secretariat on Monday.
“The NLC has been giving advice to the government during negotiations on how this issue can be addressed. The issue of subsidy, already it has been a scam, nobody is subsidizing anything for the common man. The truth is we are supposed to be refining petroleum product, if government was doing that the issue of subsidy won’t have arisen.
“We have already had discussions with the organs in the State. The organs are: the state administrative council and the state executive council of the Nigeria Labour Congress and these organs have endorsed in totality the resolution of the national executive council of the NLC to embark on total indefinite strike.
“I am giving you the assurance that all of us in Gombe state will fully participate because all the unions affiliated to the NLC and TUC are fully mobilised; all of them have held their various executive council meetings on Friday and they are directed that all workers in Gombe are going to down tools and of course there is also going to be monitoring to ensure strict compliance. The unions on their own will be monitoring their various sectors to ensure compliance while the NLC monitoring Committee will monitor the general conduct of the strike.
“The strike will continue for as long as the time the federal government deem it fit to revert to the former pump price and course withdraw the electricity tarrif.”
He added that the national executive council has decided that any union that fails to participate will be sanctioned.
“This will include dissolution of councils and removal from office of erring officers. Already, the federal government has through the office of the Head of Service directed workers at certain level not to go on strike but definitely, no worker is going to render any service including essential service because this strike is going to be total.
Adamu said labour is doing much, to alleviate the sufferings of staff of private establishments in cushioning the effects of the covid-19.
“Particularly for workers in private sector because they are the worst affected. Already, many workers are losing their jobs because of the economic downturn. Businesses are closing, the manufacturing companies are going down because of the high cost of energy and NLC is intensifying campaign to see that there are no more job losses.
“Of course, there are challenges. As you are aware, the N30,000 minimum wage in Gombe state has been withdrawn because of the dwindling resources accruing to the goverment as a result of COVID-19. However, we are aware that the situation is improving and we have started making contact with government to see that the minimum wage is brought back to the lime light,” he stated.
