The leadership of the Nigeria Labour
Congress on Tuesday walked out of the meeting held with the
representatives of the Federal Government, vowing to go ahead with its
scheduled nationwide strike on Wednesday (today).
Representatives of the Trade Union Congress, who also attended the meeting, however, said the TUC would not join the strike.
NLC President, Aliyu Wabba, led the
labour delegation while the Secretary to the Government of the
Federation, Mr. Babachir Lawal, led the Federal Government delegation at
the talks held in the SGF’s office in Abuja on Tuesday night.
After the meeting, Lawal said, “The
National Industrial Court has given an injunction that no strike by NLC
and TUC should hold tomorrow (Wednesday). It is therefore clear that
anyone embarking on strike tomorrow (Wednesday) is doing so illegally
and government is assuring all Nigerians to come out and do their jobs
tomorrow (Wednesday).
“It the duty of government to provide
security for her citizens and anyone who tries to coerce any worker to
do their bidding would be made to face the law of the land. We had full
cooperation with the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria and they said they
are not going on strike. For them, it is a complete return to work
tomorrow (Wednesday). It is not the same with the NLC however. They have
two factions, one agreed completely with the position of the TUC.”
Briefing journalists, Wabba said his
team arrived at its decision to proceed on strike following the
inability of the Federal Government to meet up with its demand to revert
to the N86.50K old pump price of fuel.
Officials of NLC, who pleaded not to be
named, said they were angered by the decision of the Federal Government
to proceed to court, despite existing negotiation which was at the
instance of the government.
The Joe Ajaero faction of the NLC had
initially on Tuesday said it would not join the strike while the
National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers as well as the
Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Association of Nigeria had last week
also dissociated the associations from the strike.
The action of the NLC followed the
failure of the parties to resolve the dispute over the increase of the
pump price of petroleum by the Federal Government from N86.50 to N145
per litre.
But the Federal Government has threatened to apply the ‘no-work-no-pay’ rule against workers who join the NLC strike.
The SGF, Babachir Lawal, in a statement
on Tuesday, directed all ministers, permanent secretaries and heads of
government agencies to invoke the provision of rule against errant
workers.
Lawal advised civil servants to shun the
exercise in their own interest, which, he said, was called by the NLC
despite a ruling of the National Industrial Court, which restrained
labour from going on strike on Wednesday.
The SGF added, “This notice is
regrettably given in spite of an order by the industrial court against
the strike. Government, therefore, calls upon and advises all workers
to respect the laws of the land and to desist from participating in an
illegal action.
“Government undertakes to guarantee the
safety of workers and their workplaces, and expects that normal work
will continue in the interest of the nation. Accordingly, security
agencies have been directed to ensure unimpeded access to offices,
workplaces and markets.
“Accordingly, all ministers, permanent
secretaries and heads of government agencies are hereby directed to
invoke the provision of ‘no work no pay’ in respect of any staff member
who absents himself or herself from work to join the strike.”
“Attendance registers are required to be opened in all Ministries, Departments and Agencies.”
There were indications on Tuesday that
organised labour would defy the ruling of the National Industrial Court
on the strike called to protest the fuel price increase.
While the Nigeria Labour Congress said
it was not aware of the court order stopping the strike, the Trade Union
Congress flayed the Federal Government for obtaining it.
The General Secretary of the NLC, Dr.
Peter Ozo-Eson, in an interview with one of our correspondents on
Tuesday, said, “I am not aware of any court injunction. As far as I am
concerned, I am not aware of any court injunction.”
The President of the TUC, Mr. Bala Kaigama, in an interview with The PUNCH, described the action of the Federal Government in heading for the National Industrial Court as panicky.
“That is what we are going to the
meeting to find out. Who instituted that? So, we would find out if it is
going to stop our negotiations. They are doing it through panic. I
think they are scared.
“We have not been served. Can you talk of what you have not seen?” he asked.
The NIC had, in its ruling on Tuesday,
stopped the TUC and the NLC from embarking on their planned strike
scheduled to start on Wednesday.
But earlier on Tuesday, the NLC held an
emergency National Executive Council meeting in Abuja, where it decided
to go ahead with the strike.
At the meeting, the congress insisted
that the Federal Government must reverse the increase in the pump price
of fuel from N86 and N86.50k to N145.
No comments:
Post a Comment