The Nigeria Labour Congress on Monday warned that its members will commence a nationwide strike without any formal notice if marketers increased the pump price of petrol without concluding the ongoing negotiations.
The NLC President, Joe Ajaero, admonished the Federal Government to stop the falling value of the naira.
The threat by the organised labour followed hints by oil marketers, on Sunday, that the cost of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, would rise to between N680/litre and N720/litre in the coming weeks should the dollar continue to trade between N910 and N950 at the parallel market.
The marketers said dealers seeking to import PMS were being forced to put the plans on hold due to the scarcity of foreign exchange to import the commodity.
The warning came barely one week after the local currency crossed the N900/dollar ceiling, with the naira selling at over N945/dollar at the parallel market on Friday.
Oil dealers said the CBN Importers and Exporters official window for foreign exchange, which boasts of a lower exchange rate of about $740/litre, had remained illiquid and unable to provide the $25m to $30m required for the importation of PMS by dealers.
In the aftermath of the fuel subsidy removal in May, the organised labour had attempted to down-tool over the skyrocketing prices of goods and services but the Federal Government secured an injunction from the National Industrial Court barring them from embarking on strike
