Hardship: Federal, State and Local Government Workers Begin 3-Day Nationwide Warning Strike Today
Emmanuel Femi Adedayo 
Public sector unions under the aegis of the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council, JNPSNC, have directed all federal, state and local government employees, including staff of ministries, departments and agencies, MDAs, nationwide, to begin a three-day warning strike from midnight today over the failure of government to address their demands.
The council directed union officials in the federal, state and local government services to ensure total compliance with the industrial action, citing what it described as worsening economic and mental hardship being experienced by workers and other Nigerians.
This came as President Bola Tinubu did not make a reference to the workers demand to slash fuel price to N500 and adopt measures to cushion the effect of the economic hardship in his Indepencence Day broadcast, yesterday.
Members of the JNPSNC include the Nigerian Civil Service Union, NCSU; Medical and Health Workers Union, M&HWU; Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, ASCSN; and National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives, NANNM.
Others are the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Employees, AUPCTRE; Nigeria Union of Public Service, Reportorial, Secretarial, Data Processors and Allied Workers, NUPSRAW; National Union of Printing, Publishing and Paper Products Workers, NUPPPPROW; and National Union of Agriculture and Allied Employees, NUAEE.
Employees of federal and state government MDAs are also affected.
The warning strike followed the failure of the Federal Government to address demands contained in a letter dated September 21, 2026, to President Tinubu by the national leadership of the JNPSNC.
The council explained that the action was necessary to press home its concerns over the hardship confronting workers and vulnerable Nigerians.
The council had on September 29, threatened a three-day warning strike should its demands for the petrol price to be cut to N500 a litre, a wage award and other measures to cushion the hardship in the country not be met or addressed by President Tinubu during his Independence Anniversary Address to the nation, yesterday.
The JNPSNC leadership, expressed disappointed that President Tinubu, in his Independence anniversary address, did not heed the demand for the pump price of petrol to be slashed to N500, from the current N1,400 to N2,000 per litre, depending on the location, or announce immediate measures to ameliorate the socio-economic hardship caused by government policies.
Directive to proceed on strike
The directive to proceed on the warning strike was contained in a circular by JNPSNC’s National Secretary (Trade Union side), Olowoyo Gbenga, yesterday, to the national presidents and general secretaries, state chairmen and secretaries of affiliate unions to the JNPSNC, entitled “Declaration of three day Warning Strike; action with immediate effect.”
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