The FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, and labour unions have reached a midnight agreement to suspend the ongoing strike, with workers set to resume duties immediately.
The truce followed over three hours of negotiations led by Senator Mohammed Bomoi, chairman of the Senate Committee on FCT.
While briefing newsmen after the meeting, the Acting General Secretary of the NLC, Comrade Benson Upah, alongside the TUC General Secretary, Dr Nuhu Toro, said several resolutions were reached to restore industrial peace.
Upah said the agreements included assurances that no worker would be victimised for participating in the strike, the immediate withdrawal of all cases instituted at the National Industrial Court, and a commitment by the FCT Minister to maintain mutual respect and sustained dialogue with organised labour.
“All complaints presented by members of the Joint Unions Action Committee were taken one after the other and fully addressed,” Upah said.
He added that the Minister assured organised labour of continuous engagement going forward.
Also, workers under the Joint Unions Action Committee (JUAC), as well as affiliates of the NLC and TUC within the FCT Administration, were directed to return to work with immediate effect.
“All JUAC members and all affiliates of the TUC and NLC working in the Ministry of the FCT are hereby directed to resume work immediately,” Upah said.
“All affiliates are enjoined to comply strictly with this directive in the interest of industrial peace and harmony and in good faith.”
The dispute had arisen from unresolved labour issues within the FCT Administration, prompting the NLC and TUC to embark on industrial action and threaten mass protests, despite warnings by the FCT Police Command over security concerns and a court order restraining the action.
The strike had disrupted activities in the nation’s capital for several days before the intervention of the Senate Committee on the FCT led to the resolution.
