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Thursday, May 19, 2016
INFO ON THE LABOR STRIKE
A Nigerian union defied a court
ban to launch a general strike on Wednesday in protest at a
planned hefty increase in fuel prices, though many
businesses and government offices opened as normal.
The government hopes lifting costly fuel subsidies, causing
prices to rise by up to two thirds at the pumps, will help
alleviate the worst crisis in decades in Africa's biggest
economy.
A wave of strikes ensued the last time Nigeria tried to
introduce a similar measure in 2012, and authorities
eventually reinstated some subsidies.
This time around the Nigerian Industrial Court blocked
industrial action due to the risk of civil disorder, but late on
Tuesday the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) said it would go
ahead with its planned indefinite strike anyway, starting on
Wednesday.
"The government was not ready to accede to our demands,
so we walked out of the meeting," Chris Uyot, deputy
general secretary of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC),
told Reuters.
A second union, the Trade Union Congress (TUC),
abandoned its strike plans in response to the court ruling.
Reuters witnessed government offices, shops and banks in
the capital Abuja mostly opening as normal on Wednesday.
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Some 300 union activists gathered there to stage a march,
and some 200 protested in the commercial capital Lagos,
where some banks and many shops were also doing
business.
'LEFT WITH NO CHOICE'
A fall in oil prices has eaten into the foreign reserves of
Nigeria, which relies on crude sales for around 70 percent of
national income. The central bank has adopted a fixed
exchange rate to protect further depletion of reserves.
On Tuesday, vice president Yemi Osinbajo said President
Muhammadu Buhari had been "left with no choice" but to
raise petrol prices.
"What can we do if we don't have foreign currency? We have
to import fuel," Osinbajo said.
Nigeria needs to import almost all of its fuel as its refineries
are largely out of action after years of neglect and
mismanagement.
There were some flight delays on Wednesday as airlines
struggled to get jet fuel, but airports in Lagos, Abuja and
Port Harcourt in the oil-producing Niger Delta were
operational
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