Economic hardship: We don’t enjoy going on strike – NLC reveals what union wants

The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, stated on Friday that while the union does not particularly relish the need to resort to industrial actions, it is important to note that issuing ultimatums is sometimes necessary.

The NLC Head of International Relations, Uchenna Ekwe, emphasised the importance of doing what is right instead of resorting to continuous industrial action.

It’s worth noting that both the NLC and the Trade Union Congress, TUC, had given the Federal Government a 14-day ultimatum to fulfil the 16-point agreement with the workers since October last year.

Many Nigerians were not pleased with the ultimatum given by the NLC, criticising their decision to go on strike during these challenging economic times.

Reacting, Ekwe said they only issue an ultimatum when the government fails to meet up with the union’s reminders.

Featuring on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, Ekwe said: “Usually people see when NLC starts putting warning and if you notice the comments, people will say we don’t want a strike, it will disrupt.

“Balancing all these, Let me make this clear, the NLC is actually never interested in a strike, we don’t want a strike; we want the right things to be done.

“Before you see us issue a public ultimatum, there must have been many communications that are not meant public to the government system calling their attention to probably an agreement like in this case.”