The talks between the Nigerian government and the Labour unions were once again deadlocked.
Both parties rescheduled another meeting for Monday, September 28, after they could not resolve the contending issues.
Labour is mounting pressure on the Nigerian government to rescind its decision to increase electricity tarrif and the pump price per litre of petrol.
Both parties could not teach a consensus, which is critical to the resolution of the disputes.
Between now and Monday, both parties are expected to have consulted widely with their leadership organs.
The Thursday meeting was the second in the series between Government and Labour.
The first one, which could not reach a consensud and therefore necessitated the convening of the second meeting, had held last week.
At Thursday’s meeting, the Nigerian Government had reportedly put several offers on the table in the form of palliatives, but the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), however turned down the offers.
They were said to have insisted that the electricity tariff hike must be suspended before they could engage with government.
At the meeting that lasted for over four hours, at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Thursday night, the Federal Government reportedly offered palliatives in the areas of housing, transportation and agriculture.
While the NLC and TUC appreciated the offers, they said unless the electricity tariff increase was reversed, they were not prepared to continue the negotiation.
Some of the palliatives put on the table by government included; tax free N30,000 minimum wage for levels 1-4 workers, provision of mass housing for members of organized labour, provision of financial support to the tune of N2.5 billion for those captured under the conditional cash transfer for the urban poor, provision of unspecified number of buses to ease cost of transportation and the provision of one million units of meters in the next three months under the mass metering project among others.
Present on the side of the government were Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha, minister of labour and employment, Dr Chris Ngige, minister of power Alhaji Saleh Mamman, minister of information and culture Alhaji Lai Mohammed, minister of state petroleum resources Chief Timipre Sylva and minister of state labour and employment Mr Festus Keyamo.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) was led by its President, Comrade Ayuba Waba while the Trade Union Congress (TUC) was led by Mr Quadri Olaleye.
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