By Our Correspondent<\/p>\n
As the nation marks its 66the Independence thursday the Nigerian public servants under the umbrella of Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC) have concluded plans to embark on a three-day warning strike from October 2 , if the Federal Government fails to address their demands over the rising cost of petrol, wage award and negotiations for a new national minimum wage.<\/p>\n
The council, comprising of eight public sector unions, gave the Federal Government until September 30 to reduce the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) to \u20a6500 per litre, approve a wage award and begin negotiations for a new national minimum wage of not less than \u20a6500,000 from 2027.<\/p>\n
The JNPSNC said it had mobilised public servants nationwide for the warning strike if the Federal Government failed to address the issues raised in its letter to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.<\/p>\n
The council had, on September 21, written to Tinubu demanding a reduction in petrol prices, an immediate wage award and the commencement of negotiations for a new national minimum wage, among other measures.<\/p>\n
In a statement issued on Tuesday by the National Secretary of the JNPSNC and General Secretary of the Nigeria Civil Service Union, Gbenga Olowoyo, the council said its September 30 deadline remained sacrosanct.<\/p>\n
Olowoyo said the concerns of Nigerian workers could no longer be ignored, warning that failure to address the issues would lead to the commencement of the three-day warning strike from Friday, October 2.<\/p>\n
He said, \u201cThe three critical issues requiring urgent attention are as follows: reduction of fuel price to \u20a6500 per litre. The Federal Government should take urgent steps to bring down the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) to \u20a6500 per litre.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis can be achieved through the provision of an intervention fund to address landing costs and support oil and gas operators.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is equally important for the Federal Government to ensure the sale of crude oil to the Dangote Refinery and operators of modular refineries at appropriate terms to facilitate increased domestic refining and help bring down the price of petroleum products.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe current price of PMS, ranging from \u20a61,450 to \u20a62,000 and, in some locations outside major communities and cities, as high as \u20a62,500 per litre, is unacceptable to Nigerian workers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe council said the high cost of petrol had placed severe pressure on workers, their dependants and the wider population.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe council maintains that the economic hardship occasioned by the high cost of fuel is placing the survival of Nigerian workers, their dependants and the general populace under severe pressure, making it increasingly difficult for Nigerians to live normal and dignified lives”.<\/p>\n
On the demand for a wage award, the council said, \u201cThe Federal Government should urgently approve a wage award for Nigerian workers to cushion the effects of the prevailing harsh economic conditions being experienced by workers, their dependants, and vulnerable Nigerians.\u201d<\/p>\n
It added that such intervention would support public servants to remain productive despite the economic pressures.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe council believes that urgent action on this demand will further enable public servants to consolidate their loyalty, commitment and productivity within the public service ecosystem,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
The workers also called on the Federal Government to urgently constitute a tripartite committee to begin negotiations for a new national minimum wage ahead of 2027.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Federal Government should urgently establish a tripartite committee to commence and facilitate negotiations for the new national minimum wage expected to become due in 2027,\u201d the council said.<\/p>\n
The workers said: \u201cThe Nigerian workers\u2019 demand for the immediate constitution of the committee is informed by the need to avoid any administrative or procedural delay that could affect the implementation of the new National Minimum Wage once it is eventually negotiated and passed into law by the National Assembly.\u201d<\/p>\n
The council said the Federal Government\u2019s response before September 30 would determine whether the planned industrial action would go ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cConsequently, the council states that failure by the Federal Government to take the necessary steps to address these issues on or before 30th September 2026 will leave Nigerian workers with no option but to commence a three-day warning strike, with effect from Friday, 2nd October 2026, to press home their demands,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
The council further urged the President to use his Independence Day address to respond to the issues raised by the workers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is imperative to state clearly that the Independence Day address of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria should adequately address these critical issues,\u201d the council said.<\/p>\n
It warned that failure to address the demands would deepen dissatisfaction among workers and other Nigerians affected by the economic situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cFailure to address the concerns raised, according to the Council, will attract the displeasure of Nigerian workers and their dependants, as well as other vulnerable Nigerians who continue to bear the brunt of the prevailing economic hardship,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
The JNPSNC comprises the Nigerian Civil Service Union; Medical and Health Workers Union; Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria; National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives; Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Employees; Nigeria Union of Public Service, Reportorial, Secretarial, Data Processors and Allied Workers; National Union of Printing, Publishing and Paper Products Workers; and National Union of Agriculture and Allied Employee<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Our Correspondent As the nation marks its 66the Independence thursday the Nigerian public servants under the umbrella of Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC) have concluded plans to embark on a three-day warning strike from October 2 , if the Federal Government fails to address their demands over the rising cost of petrol, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18142,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18140"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18141,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18140\/revisions\/18141"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}