Organised Labour insists the Federal Government must address the issue of the electricity tariff hike alongside the settlement of the minimum wage palaver, as it suspended its industrial action for one week.
On Monday, the two unions announced that they had “relaxed” their nationwide strike of two days, carried out after the Federal Government stone-walled negotiations on a new minimum wage.
Both unions downed tools on Monday to register their grievances over the hike in electricity tariff and lack of consensus on a new minimum wage.
The development ground activities in critical sectors of the economy with schools, businesses, hospitals, and airports shut.
Banks and the national electricity grid were also shut down, throwing the nation into darkness and a financial quagmire.
In a communiqué issued after a joint national executive council (NEC) meeting of the unions, organised labour said the demand for the reversal of the electricity tariff hike back to N66/kwh was part of the discussion.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) said they deliberated on the demand for the stoppage of the “apartheid classification of electricity consumers into Bands.
Their communiqué said: “The NEC-in-session is deeply disappointed by the government’s silence and lack of concrete action regarding the reversal of the electricity tariff hike and the abolition of the apartheid classification of electricity consumers into Bands.
“The NEC reaffirms that these issues are critical to alleviating the financial burden on Nigerian workers and the general populace.
“The electricity tariff hike and discriminatory Band classification remain unacceptable and must be addressed alongside the wage increase.”
