If the Federal Government does not reverse its recent decision to increase the telecommunications tariff by 50%, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) has threatened to strike.
The President of the TUC, Comrade Festus Osifo, made this known during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday.
The TUC criticized the proposed tariff increase after its earlier National Administrative Council (NAC) meeting, claiming that it is a deliberate act of economic oppression against Nigerians.
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Asked if the union will down tools and enter the streets if the FG doesn’t act on their demand for the reversal of the decision, Osifo replied, “Yes! Correct”!
On the date the action will begin, Osifo said, “What we had today is the NAC meeting to bring about the sensitization. After that, we will have the CWC meeting and the NEC meeting. Therefore, NEC of TUC is responsible for setting out the next course of action and providing a date.
The TUC president advised the Federal Government to focus more on the root causes of the issue, which he claimed were symptoms rather than forex management.
Why would you begin looking at the signs if you already know the cause of the issue? So, all the increment that we are seeing today is the symptoms of the FX mismanagement.
We only want to sit down and consider how we can return to that root cause because we firmly believe that fixing that root cause will eliminate the need for these symptoms, said Ostifo.
He acknowledged that operating costs for telecom companies are high, but he said it would be preferable for them to receive economic stability that will lower the cost of operation rather than to constantly look at raising tariffs.
Workforce unions and civil society organizations are concerned about the proposed telecom tariff increase. Following a discussion with Federal Government representatives, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) had scheduled a protest on Tuesday, but it was later suspended.
Source: Channels TV
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