Tinubu confident labour unions will postpone protest, NLC says it won't

<h2>The Federal Government has expressed confidence that the labour unions would shift their proposed industrial action, scheduled to begin on Wednesday.</h2>, <p>The NLC released a statement after Wednesday's meeting to say the protest will go ahead as planned.</p>, <span>President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Presidency</span>, <p>Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, disclosed this to newsmen after a closed-door meeting with the leadership of the unions on Tuesday in Abuja.</p>, <p>He said that the unions have accepted the proposal for palliatives to cushion the effect of the fuel subsidy removal as announced on Monday by President Bola Tinubu in a nationwide broadcast.</p>, <p>"We appealed to labour to call off the strike tomorrow. And they all agreed that Mr President's broadcast was a welcome development and they will go back home to talk to the leaders that are not here today.</p>, <p>"So, we are hopeful that they will do the rightful and call off the strike tomorrow," he said.</p>, <p>Festus Osifo, Trade Union Congress national president, said that the meeting with the Federal Government was fruitful based on the president's broadcast on Monday.</p>, <p>He said the unions were informed by government representatives that the various palliatives proposed by the president were just the baseline and that more palliatives will be coming.</p>, <p>"For us, we felt that the president has said that ₦‎1 trillion has been saved in the last two months that what he proposed is not far reaching.</p>, <p>"Now, as part of the principle of negotiation, when anything is put on the table, you'll accept but you'll push for more.</p>, <p>"So on our path, we’ve said that what you put on the table is not enough, and that they can do more.</p>, <p>"We think for example, that 3,000 buses are not sufficient. By the time you divide 3,000 by 37, you will see how many they would come up to," he said.</p>, <p>On the issue of the minimum wage proposed by the president during the broadcast, Osifo said that the meeting also made obser