NLC meets, takes critical decisions that could mar fragile industrial peace, nations economy

Nigeria - According to the former Minister of Labour, Chief Emeka Wogu, “the bottom line is that I must do my work in such a way that there will be no crisis in the country. Labour crisis is capable of destabilizing the polity, it is capable of equally leading to change of government in such a way that if there is a Labour crisis, it will shake the foundation of every government depending on the level of the crisis. So, I was mindful of all that in my days at the Ministry of Labour.”

This succinctly summarizes what a labour crisis could lead to and cause if not quickly apprehended and resolved. The immediate past Minister of Labour, though, speaking exclusively with Nigerian Tribune in his time as a minister, experience and how he was able to work successfully with the ever vibrant labour movement, his position could work as a solution to the imminent industrial crisis that is capable of destroying the fragile industrial peace and harmony being enjoyed in the country.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) recently held an emergency National Executive Council (NEC) meeting at the Labour House, Abuja. The meeting was both physical and virtual. The NEC comprises all Presidents, General Secretaries and Treasurers of NLC’s affiliate unions; Chairpersons and Secretaries of State Councils and the FCT; and members of the National Administrative Council.

The NEC meeting reviewed the recent industrial action and protests in Kaduna State against the mass sack of workers by the Kaduna State Government and the proposal by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum to increase the current price of petrol (PMS) from the current N162 per liter to between N380 and N408 per liter.

According to a communique issued after the meeting, the industrial action and protests by workers in Kaduna State were triggered by the extreme right-wing, neo-liberal, anti-workers and anti-people right sizing and restructuring policies of the Kaduna State Government which led to the sacking of thousands of workers in the public service; and without recourse to the provisions of Section 20 of the Labour Act.

The NEC pointed out that between March 31 and April 1, 2021, thousands of workers were laid off from the unified local government system in Kaduna State, the Kaduna State Primary Health Care Agency and the KSMC. Many of the affected workers have worked for a period of between five, 10 and 32 years.

The communique added that letters of disengagement that were issued to the affected workers stated that their entitlement will be paid in due course. It said: “Till date, over 21,000 teachers and 7,000 other workers disengaged in 2017 by the Kaduna State Government have not received their entitlement in violation of extant provisions of our labour laws.

“That Kaduna State Government is the only state government to date that has sacked workers in their thousands, reduced salaries and pension without recourse to the provisions of our laws.”

Also speaking, the NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, said the NLC suspended its five days warning strike and protests in Kaduna State upon the intervention of the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment which brokered a conciliatory meeting.

According to him, the conciliatory meeting produced a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the NLC and the Kaduna State Government. He added that the MoU stipulated that a 10-person committee be constituted to ensure that all processes of disengaging any worker in Kaduna State is in conformity with Nigeria’s laws particularly Section 20 of the Labour Act.

He pointed out that the MoU categorically stated that no worker in Kaduna State would be victimized by the Kaduna State Government.

However, the NEC regretted that while the NLC has upheld its side of the bargain as demanded by the MoU signed at the conciliatory meeting, the Kaduna State Government has continued to violate with impunity the provisions of the MoU especially the “no victimization” clause.

A clear case of victimization, according to Wabba, is the punitive transfer of the State Chairperson of the NLC Kaduna State Council to Birnin-Gwari which is a very remote part of Kaduna State and currently ravaged by bandits.

The NLC President said: “The 10-person committee as stipulated in the MoU is yet to be constituted by the Kaduna State Government; the violation of the MoU reached with workers through the congress is an extreme demonstration of negotiation in bad faith which shows lack of regard for laws and collective bargaining agreements.

“That the Congress has taken steps to bring the violations and infractions against the MoU by the Kaduna State Government to the attention of the Federal Government and the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment; and that instead of retracing its steps from the violation of human and trade union rights, the Kaduna State Government has resorted to further acts of intimidation, propaganda, half-truths, falsehood and outright lies against workers and trade unions.”

Considering all these, the NEC further said the actions so far taken by the Kaduna State Government are anti-workers and anti-people and as such are counter-productive. It also said the policies of the Kaduna State Government violate human and trade union fundamental rights especially the right to organize and the right to collective bargaining as provided for in Convention numbers 87 and 98 of the International Labour Organization (ILO).

The other vital issues raised by the meeting is the recent proposal by the Nigeria Governors Forum through the Nasir El-Rufai Committee for an astronomical increase in the price of petrol from the current N162 per liter to between N380 and N408 per liter, which translates to 300 per cent.

The proposed increase, according to the NEC, “is thoughtless, provocative and insensitive to the suffering majority of Nigerians especially workers are going through at this time.”

The NEC, therefore, resolved, “that the earlier decision of the National Executive Council (NEC) of Congress to withdraw all services nationwide and protest the extreme anti-workers policies of the Kaduna State Government should take effect without further delay. In tandem with the requirement of the law, this resolution serves as a notice to all employers of labour.”

It also directed “that the mobilization of all NLC state councils and affiliate unions for the industrial action and protest should begin immediately; that all the falsehood and propaganda by Kaduna State Government should be responded to appropriately because in modern-day democracy, politicians should learn to speak the truth and should not falsify information and advance propaganda.”

It added: “We are concerned about the citing of military Decree 2 by Mr. Nasir El-Rufai, a law which has since been abolished under this democratic dispensation. If Mr. El-Rufai wants to return to the era of militarization of our democracy, his action should be condemned.

“That the resort to strike action and protest is the right of workers everywhere in the world even in very advanced countries. If there is anyone to blame for the decision of the Congress it must be Mr. Nasir El Rufai and the Kaduna State Government.”

Also on the proposed increase in the price of PMS between N308 – N408 by the Nigeria Governors Forum, the NEC resolved “that Nigerian workers will automatically down tools once an increase in the price of petrol is announced by the government.”

The resolution of the NLC NEC is clear, the workers are spoil for industrial action, which will definitely not going down well with the nation’s fragile economy. The earlier three day-action in Kaduna State was an eye-opener, as all business activities were closed down, while train services to Kaduna and electricity supplies were totally cut. The Kaduna State strike was about to snowball into a national strike as threatened by the NLC, when President Muhammadu, through the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, intervened. The strike, as earlier stated was suspended with the singing of the MoU. Since Governor El-Rufai has failed to abide by the letters of the signed MoU, the NLC has now threatened to resume the suspended strike. But this time around, the NLC president, said it will be a national strike.

Now that the NLC has served the strike notice and directed that mobilization should begin, there is no going back except the Federal Government, through the Minister of Labour, quickly oils its tripartite negotiating machine, and call for an amicable resolution of the issues before it snowballs into a major crisis that would further impact negatively on the governance and the nation’s economy.