Senate, Reps take positions on planned nationwide Oct. 3 strike by organised labour

Senate and the House of Representatives have weighed in on the planned industrial action by organised labour slated to commence nationwide from October 3.

This is also the National Economic Council (NEC) has appealed to labour not to abandon dialogue in its quest for better welfare for its members. It also appealed to the unions to suspend its planned nationwide indefinite strike.

Reacting to the impending industrial action by organised labour, Chairman, Senate Committee on Privatisation, in a viral video, Thursday, appealed to the unions to reconsider their action, as according to him, ‘anything less than activities to promote the economy would hurt the nation more than ever.’

“I still plead with the Nigeria Labour Congress to reconsider their decision on embarking on a nationwide strike. Anything less than activities to promote the economy would hurt the nation more than ever. I also appeal to the state governors not to distribute the palliatives made available by the Federal Government by party membership but to everyone in the state,” Kalu said.

Meanwhile, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, has advised the Federal Government to mitigate the current economic situation in the country by increasing workers salaries.

Wage increase is a key demand by the organised labour in the country, along with issues bordering on local refining of petroleum products, and others.

Speaker Tajudeen who made the call at a public lecture to commemorate Nigeria’s 63rd Independence Anniversary, at the State House Banquet Hall, Abuja, Thursday, advised the Federal Government to build on the existing synergy among the different arms of government to provide democratic dividends to Nigerians.

Delivering a lecture on the Tinubu administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda, with the theme, ‘Actualizing the vision of renewed hope for socio-economic development through effective leadership’, a guest speaker, Dr Goke Adegoroye, praised President Bola Tinubu for the steps taken so far in repositioning governance and resetting the economy.

He however, urged the administration to prioritise key aspects of the Renewed Hopa Agenda with a view to ensuring that the impact is felt across different sectors of the economy.

Earlier, the Governor of Plateau State, Caleb Mutfwang, who disclosed NEC’s resolution after a meeting presided over by Vice President Kashim Shettima in Abuja, yesterday, said the nation was at a critical moment in its history, adding that some states took over such labour crises when they assumed office in May.

According to him, some of such states just resolved the crisis and will be unfair for the labour to return to another industrial action.

The Plateau governor said the proposed industrial action would have immense effect on the economy of both the states and the federal governments.

He said the NEC expressed genuine concern about the situation in the country and appealed for calm and patience among Nigerians.

“The National Economic Council (NEC) deliberated on the planned indefinite strike by the National leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to proceed on an indefinite strike on Oct. 3, 2023.

“The council noted further the implications of the planned strike on the economy and the nation and thus urged members to continue to engage with the leadership of their respective states.

“It appeals to them to suspend the action and to continue on the path of dialogue with the Federal Government. This is the appeal of the council.”

He said the council appreciated the concerns raised by the NLC to have those issues addressed, adding that NEC also appealed for time to address the concerns of labour.

“We also believe that President Bola Tinubu will be addressing the nation on Oct. 1, and some of the concerns of labour will be appropriately addressed in the president’s speech.

“It is therefore important to note that it’s a federation issue, so whatever happens the labour is represented in all the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

“And NEC is appealing that discussion should continue at the state levels because there will be peculiarities as to the issues to be addressed concerning the demands of labour and therefore dialogue is the way to go.”

It would be recalled that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) had at the end of a joint National Executive Council meeting last Tuesday declared an indefinite strike beginning from Tuesday, October 3 to press home their demands.

However, only Thursday, the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, warned that embarking on the planned action would amount to a gross violation of a subsisting order of the National Industrial Court (NIC).

Fagbemi reminded the unions that issues bordering on fuel subsidy removal, which informed the decision of the NLC and the TUC to declare the strike action, were already pending before the National Industrial Court, NIC.

In a letter to the head of the legal team of the two unions, Mr. Femi Falana, the AGF urged him to persuade his clients to abort the planned strike action.

Fagbemi noted that it was due to the willingness of the unions to enter into a negotiation over the issue that it was persuaded to withdraw a contempt proceeding that it initially instituted against them.

The letter, dated September 26, read: “The attention of the Ministry has been drawn to media reports on the proposed nationwide strike action by the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, and Trade Union Congress, TUC, scheduled to commence on 3rd October 2023.

“You are kindly invited to recall the antecedence of previous steps/actions on this matter, particularly the exchange of correspondence between this office and your firm, before and after the nationwide ‘action/protest’ declared by the NLC on 2nd August 2023.

“Whilst your clients had maintained that the nationwide protest by NLC is in furtherance of its constitutional right to embark on protests, the Ministry has repeatedly advised on the need to advise your clients to refrain from resorting to self-help and taking actions capable of undermining subsisting orders of a court of competent jurisdiction.

“It is also to be recalled that based on the conduct of the said nationwide action/protest, this Office instituted contempt proceedings against the labour leaders.

“However, upon the intervention of the president and National Assembly, coupled with the decision of the labour unions to discontinue their action/protest, the contempt proceedings were not prosecuted further.

“This was advisedly done to enable the government and labour union engage in further negotiations without any form of encumbrances.

“However, in its Communique issued at the end of its National Executive Council meeting on 31st August 2023, NLC resolved to embark on a total and indefinite shutdown of the nation within 14 working days or 21 days from 31st August 2023.

“Also on 26th September 2023, the Presidents of NLC and TUC, jointly issued a communiqué stating that organised labour had resolved, ‘to embark on an indefinite and total shutdown of the nation beginning on zero hours Tuesday, the 3rd day of October, 2023.’

“From a review of the contents of the above communiques and available media reports, the proposed strike action is premised principally in furtherance of issues connected with the removal of fuel subsidy, hike in fuel price and consequential matters of making provisions for palliatives and workers welfare.

“These are undoubtedly issues that have been submitted to the National Industrial Court for adjudication.

“Therefore, the proposed strike action is in clear violation of the pending interim injunctive order granted on 5th June 2023 restraining both Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress from embarking on any industrial action/or strike of any nature, pending the hearing and determination of the pending Motion on Notice.

“We wish to reiterate that a court order, regardless of the opinion of any party on it, remains binding and enforceable until set aside.

“It is the expectation of the public that the labour unions would lead in obedience and observance of court orders and not in its breach.”

Minister of Labour and Employment, Chief of Staff to the President, National Security Adviser, Inspector-General of Police and the Director-General, State Security Services, DSS, were copied in the letter.