Nigeria update: Govt and labor unions to meet over strike

Nigeria’s government will meet with labor unions in a last bid to halt a paralyzing national strike that now threatens oil production in Africa’s most populous nation.

A major union has said it will stop production in Nigeria if the government doesn’t restore fuel subsidies that keep gasoline prices low in the nation of more than 160 million people. If production is halted, it could cause oil futures to rise, potentially costing U.S. drivers an additional US$36 million a day at the pumps.

The meeting is scheduled for Saturday night. On Saturday, residents of Nigeria rushed to gas stations and markets to buy supplies if the national strike started Monday continues into next week.

Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets across Nigeria to protest the government ending the subsidy January 1.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.