National Assembly workers, under the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN), have opened the Assembly gates to allow lawmakers, staff, and visitors to access the complex.
The gates were opened on Tuesday afternoon following the news that the Nigeria Labour Congress(NLC) and Trade Union Congress had suspended (TUC) their strike for one week to allow for further negotiation with the Federal Government.
PASAN had locked the gates on Monday in solidarity with the NLC and TUC, who called the strike to push for a new minimum wage for workers in the country.
On Monday, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume led the Federal Government’s team to meet with the leadership of organised labour to continue negotiation on how to resolve the impasse.
During the meeting, the unions and the Federal Government signed a pact in which the government agreed to pay a higher amount than the N60,000.00 it previously offered.
The NLC and TUC had demanded a national minimum wage of N494,000.00 per month.
However, the government expressed concerns that this amount would stifle its ability to fund critical sectors of the economy such as education, defence, and healthcare, among others.
The strike which commenced on Monday was called to protest the failure of the Federal Government to approve new minimum wage by 31 May as well as its failure to reverse the hike in electricity tariff.
It was reported that after a six-hour meeting with the leadership of organised labour in Abuja on Monday night, the Federal Government expressed the commitment of President Bola Tinubu to raising the N60,000 offered as the minimum wage.
The agreement stated, “The President of Nigeria, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, is committed to establishing a National Minimum Wage higher than N60,000; and the Tripartite Committee will convene daily for the next week to finalise an agreeable National Minimum Wage.”
The organised labour also agreed to “immediately hold meetings of its organs to consider this new offer, and no worker would face victimisation as a consequence of participating in the industrial action.”
These resolutions were signed on behalf of the Federal Government by Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, and Minister of State for Labour and Employment, NHon. keiruka Onyejeocha.