The Brewing tension between the federal government of Nigeria and organised labour has continued to escalate as the meeting between the duo to avert the looming indefinite strike concluded without a concrete resolution to respond to the union demands.

This was disclosed by the National President of the Nigerian Labour Congress, Mr Joe Ajearo after the meeting called by the Minister of Labour and Employment on Monday to address the impending strike action planned by the Labour unions.

The meeting, attended by the union leaders and the top officials of the government, including the minister of state for labour and employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha was pitched to be the determinant of the next line of action for the labour union whether there would be a disruption of economic activities through the industrial action or not.

Apparently, Labour left the venue of the meeting dissatisfied by its action. Speaking to Labour’s disappointment, the NLC National president noted that the Labour had attended the meeting with mixed feelings which were proved right by the government as their meeting yielded no positive results.

Mr. Ajearo who described the meeting as a “neck-breaking meeting” further said “we came with mixed feelings whether it will work or not because we have had many meetings, some beyond this level, yet nothing seems to be coming out of it. But I have great optimism in the Nigerian project; we can’t stop trying.

“We are here with that belief that something may happen. But that doubt, that trust gap is what we feared for a long time now and it calls for lamentation.

“The strike is an effect of a policy that doesn’t have a human face. There was no strike before the removal of the fuel subsidy. It was the government that said ask for palliatives, ask for wages and we have asked for it. That warning strike was a product of frustration, up till this moment”, Mr Ajearo lamented.

Reiterating the plights of the labour union, Mr. Ajaero decried the persistent dragging of issues with the federal government despite the hardship Nigerians are facing, adding that none of their demands from the government has been met.

Highlighting the unbearable living conditions of the Nigerian people, he justified the planned strike action as an outcome of the challenges the country is facing, noting that despite asking for time to solve the teeming issues, the government is yet to come up with concrete solutions to the lingering problems in the country.

“We must work together to ensure that we don’t keep on dragging these issues. It is the Nigerian people that are being affected, they are the people that are suffering. We have a lot of demands that we have put on paper for the government.

“There is the issue of CNG, refineries working, wage award and cash transfer. Of all these agreements, not even one has been addressed by the government and you want us to meet every day.

“Some of us have been around for a long time and our job is not to go on strike but when you enter into an agreement that agreement should be implemented. Before the warning strike, we raised the issues of palliatives and wage award and the NURTW.

“Nobody earning N30,000 or N60,000 will buy fuel for one week. We need to find solutions to all these problems and we have articulated them. Each time we finish they ask for time. They asked for eight weeks we gave them. They asked for four weeks we gave them. We don’t know what to tell our colleagues or members again. We hope that at the end of this meeting we will have something to tell our members. This is a neck-breaking meeting.”

The minister of labour and employment, Mr Simon Lalong on the other hand appealed to the labour union in his remarks to be open minded and fair with the country’s economic realities by averting its planned indefinite strike. Recognising the role of organised labour to get equity and welfare of the workers in the country to have good living conditions.

Prior to that, while addressing the growing tug of war between the government and the Labour union, Mr Lalong admitted that the planned industrial action by the union could affect the country’s economy, adding that the past strike actions disrupted Nigeria’s economy.

He urged the union leaders to find common ground with the government to find a lasting solution to the unrest in the Nigerian public workforce.

“We must also recognize the economic realities that confront us. As we address the concerns of our workforce, we must be mindful of striking a balance that promotes economic growth and secures sustainable progress for our nation.

“Today, I call upon each one of you to join hands in an open-minded and constructive dialogue, enabling us to bridge any gaps that may exist between the interests of workers and the ultimate goal of driving economic advancement.

“In the spirit of unity and with utmost commitment to the betterment of our nation, let us seize this opportunity to listen and understand one another. Together, let us explore innovative approaches, reimagining strategies that enhance working conditions and worker benefits while nurturing a robust economy.” the minister said.

It would be recalled that organised labour, last week, had embarked on a two-day warning strike to protest against the excruciating suffering Nigerians are facing with the threats that it would take it further to an indefinite strike if the government failed to listen to their demands.

While the warning strike was only effective in some parts of the country due to the cold response of some private sectors who refused to join the Labour union in their face-off with the government, the Labour union leaders in Lagos told NDR that they would include the private sector in the industrial action to make it more effective.

However, the private sector has raised an eyebrow at the position of organised labour, with the notion that the planned strike action is a result of the disagreement between the government and labour union which the duo should address without getting the private business owners involved