By Mardiyyah Abubakar
Public servants under the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC) have threatened a three-day warning strike from October 2 over petrol prices, wage awards and negotiations for a new national minimum wage.
The council gave the Federal Government until September 30 to address the demands, warning that failure to act would trigger the strike.
The JNPSNC, which comprises eight public sector unions, is demanding a reduction in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) to N500 per litre.
The unions are also asking the government to approve a wage award for workers and establish a tripartite committee to begin negotiations for a new national minimum wage expected to take effect in 2027.
In a statement by the JNPSNC National Secretary and General Secretary of the Nigeria Civil Service Union, Gbenga Olowoyo, says the September 30 deadline remained sacrosanct.
The unions said petrol prices, which they put at between N1,450 and N2,000 per litre and as high as N2,500 in some areas, had worsened economic hardship for workers and their dependants.
They urged the Federal Government to provide an intervention fund to reduce landing costs and support oil and gas operators.
The council also called for crude oil to be sold to the Dangote Refinery and modular refineries on appropriate terms.
It says an immediate wage award was needed to cushion workers from rising living costs.
The JNPSNC said it had mobilised public servants nationwide for the warning strike if the government failed to meet its demands by the deadline.
It also urges the Federal Government to address the workers’ concerns in President Bola Tinubu’s Independence Day address
