The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) is set to meet with the Federal Government again to discuss the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding they signed on subsidy removal palliatives.
The meeting comes amid growing concerns over the devastating impact of the forex crisis on the economy.
In a statement on Sunday, NLC President Joe Ajaero blamed government officials’ love for foreign luxury products for the free fall of the national currency. He warned that the economy was at risk of “a wave of devastating consequences” if the naira failed to stabilise against the American dollar.
Ajaero also called on public officials to stop their penchant for foreign goods in order to check the depreciation of the naira.
The NLC has also threatened to boycott the meeting if the Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong, is in attendance. This is due to the minister’s failure to establish a cordial relationship with organised labour.
He said, “If that meeting is to be held, it will be without the Minister of Labour and Employment (Simon Lalong) because we will not be part of any meeting with the Federal Government that the Minister of Labour and Employment will attend.
“You will recall that the decision we had on the National Union of Road Transport Workers was that all parties including the police should leave the premises, pending the resolution of the dispute but that did not happen. Therefore, any meeting we will have with the Federal Government, the minister of labour and employment will not be part of it.”
Ajaero disclosed that the union was invited to the State House by the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila.
