Nigerian Labour Congress
Nigerian government asks judiciary, parliamentary staff to call off strike
The Federal Government has directed members of the striking Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) and the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN) to “urgently” call off their over-two-month-old strike. The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, gave the directive in a statement on Tuesday, threatening that the government might be forced to invoke “sections of the Trade Disputes Acts” if the strike persisted longer. The threat is a government’s familiar warning of possible introduction of “no-work-no-pay” policy to break adamant striking workers. “The ministry will not be happy to be pushed into invoking sections of the Trade Disputes Acts capable of eroding all the gains made so far in the negotiations since May 6, 2021,” the statement signed by the ministry of Labou...
Kaduna in total blackout as workers begin strike
Kaduna State on Sunday was thrown into total blackout ahead of the five-day warning strike directed by the Nigeria Labour Congress to commence from midnight of Sunday in the state. The total blackout followed a warning by the National Union of Electricity Employees, an affiliate of the NLC, directing its workers to join the strike action in Kaduna beginning on Midnight Sunday. But the state government said it won’t bow to the intimidation of the NLC over its planned ‘rightsizing’ of the state workforce. While speaking at a press conference in Kaduna on Saturday, the Commissioner of Local Government Affairs, Malam Jafaru Sani, said it uncovered a plot by the NLC to recruit hoodlums from other states of the federation to cause mayhem under the pretext of embarking on strike. Sani, therefore,...
Labour issues strike notice in Ekiti over sack of 21 workers
Industrial crisis is looming in Ekiti over sack of 21 workers of the State House of Assembly recruited under the tenure of former Governor Ayodele Fayose. The workers were sacked in January 2020 over claims that their recruitment by the Fayose administration did not follow due process and was therefore illegal, according to News Agency of Nigeria. But the labour unions disagreed with the sack of the workers and had asked the leadership of the Ekiti State House Assembly to recall the 21 sacked workers, a request that has not been acceded to . On Wednesday, the unions gave notice to Speaker, Funminiyi Afuye, indicating their readiness to embark on statewide strike in seven days if the workers were not recalled. In the notice, the labour unions asked the Speaker to cause the immediate reinsta...
Nigerian government meets labour over fuel price, electric tariff hike
The Federal Government on Monday resumed its meeting with the organised Labour over the issues of increases in the pump price of petrol and electricity tariff hike. The meeting had been adjourned in December last year, with hopes that it will be reconvened earlier in 2021. Dr Chris Ngige, the Minister of Labour and Boss Mustapha, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), are the two ministers representing the federal government at this meeting. At the opening of the meeting, Dr Ngige said the government’s side of the bargain has received reports from the committee set up to look into some of the demands of the labour movements. Similarly, Boss Mustapha also noted that the committees set up last year will be presenting their findings during the meeting. The SGF also assured t...
Airline operators dissociates from unions’ strike
Few hours to the commencement of the nationwide strike over the increase in pump price and hike in electricity tariff, Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) has disassociated themselves from the action. Alhaji Abdulmunaf Yunusa, the President of the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) in a statement said that the association would not join the strike called by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC). Abdulmunaf noted that airlines had suffered huge losses for over three months during the COVID-19 lockdown and were forced due to no fault of theirs to even lay off staff and significantly reduce the salaries of those that were retained. He said: “It would be very insensitive therefore and a show of lack of understanding and compassion for Nigerian aviation workers who ha...
APC commends labour for suspending planned strike in Rivers
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers has commended the organised labour in the state for suspending its planned strike for Tuesday. It said in a statement issued by its spokesman in the state, Mr Ogbonna Nwuke, that the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and its associates had demonstrated uncommon maturity and discipline. Nwuke noted that labour demonstrated this by allowing last-minute discussions with the Rivers Government. He said that the breakthrough recorded at the meeting was plain as a result of the unique sacrifice made by labour in the overall interest of the state and nation. “We have heard that the Rivers Government and labour have settled their differences. “It took last-minute efforts that lasted late into the night to avert a crippling strike. “While we welcome the res...
Oil marketers condemn planned protest, shutdown over fuel price hike
AHA Taxis Oil marketers, under the aegis of Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), yesterday, kicked against attempts by some labour groups and trade associations to stage a protest march in opposition to the recent hike in the price of Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol. The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), United Labour Congress (ULC) and some other oil marketing groups had threatened to embark on a nationwide strike over the hike in petrol price, while they called on the government to revert to the previous price. In a statement in Abuja, National President of PETROAN, Dr. Billy Gillis-Harry, stated that while its members are not happy with the way certain things are in the downstream petroleum industry at the moment, they do not think any stree...
