The leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) Thursday held a discreet meeting with the Federal Government ahead of possible negotiation over the controversial deregulation of the downstream sector of the oil industry. The parley, THISDAY learnt, was to prepare ground for a possible meeting to resolve the face-off as the labour centres have announced an indefinite strike starting on Monday. Both government and labour officials refused to confirm that an exploratory meeting held in Abuja yesterday. This is as it disclosed that the order for 1,600 buses, which the Federal Government claims is part of the palliative measures to cushion the effects of the subsidy removal was untrue, as the buses were actually purchased by the labour unions with a loan procured from the Urban Development Bank three years ago. Speaking with THISDAY in a telephone conversation yesterday, President General of the TUC, Comrade Peter Esele, said the congresses would not attend any meeting with the government until after the strikes have commenced. “Since the government decided to remove the subsidy without talking to us, we will also not talk to the government until after we have started our strike,” Esele said. He recalled that labour met with President Goodluck Jonathan just once over the issue of the removal and there was a mutual agreement to meet again to continue to dialogue over it. While also speaking on a television programme on Wednesday night, Esele queried what palliative the government claimed to be providing when the 1,600 buses in question were being purchased by labour. President of the NLC, Comrade Abdulwaheed Omar, also said no meeting was held with the Federal Government or its representatives yesterday, noting that Monday’s strike would hold in all state capitals and would shut down the economy. He refuted claims that labour attended any meeting with the government, describing such reports as part of strategies to break the petrol price hike protest. He also denied that some oil marketers were funding the general strike and protests against government, saying such claims were part of a desperate plot to divert attention from the planned protests. Yesterday, aviation workers under the auspices of Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), and National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) threatened that they would close the airspace on Monday in solidarity with “suffering Nigerians” and in consonance with the strike declared by organised labour. In a statement issued by the Deputy General Secretary, ATSSSAN, Olayinka Abioye; Acting General Secretary of NUATE, Abdulkareem Motajo; and Umoh Ofonime for NAAPE respectively, they said that there was no going back on the commencement of the strike and urged all aviation workers and passengers to close down their operations. THISDAY investigations revealed that managements of airlines were not enthusiastic about the forthcoming industrial action as their officials believe that they would lose huge revenue during the period of the strike. Besides, the image maker of one of the major domestic carriers told THISDAY that aviation fuel, known as Jet A1, had been deregulated long ago and the deregulation of premium motor spirit does not affect the sector directly. “So the aviation sector is a sensitive industry, where you cannot just embark on industrial action without justifiable reason, saying that you are striking in sympathy with other Nigerians does not make any sense,” the source said. But in spite of the disagreement, domestic airlines were bracing up for the strike yesterday, as many believe that once the whole system was paralysed, only a few passengers would turn up, so technically the strike would adversely affect their activities.