Organised labour insists on P/Harcourt protest
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has vowed to go ahead with its planned protest Tuesday against the Rivers state government over alleged infractions on workers’ right.
NLC and its counterpart, the Trade Union Congress (TUC), had planned to hold a peaceful protest in Port Harcourt, the state capital Tuesday to compel the state government to address their demands which ranged from payment of salary arrears, promotion arrears, pension arrears to payment of new minimum wage.
However, in a statement issued on Sunday by the NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, the labour movement said it had received credible information that Governor Nyesom Wike had mobilised two local government councils in Port Harcourt metropolis to use their agents to stop workers from holding the legitimate protest.
NLC accused the government of violently disrupting the State Executive Council meeting of the state NLC August 29, 2020.
It said “the right to peaceful assembly and protest is not just a constitutional right as provided for and guaranteed by Section 40 of Nigeria’s Constitution, but also a fundamental universal human rights protected by international treaties to which Nigeria is a signatory.”
“We wish to send a final warning to Mr. Nyesom Wike that in the event that any harm comes to any worker on September 8, 2020, Nigerian workers and the international labour community would hold him personally to account, after all, he remains the Chief Security Officer of Rivers State,” it said.
NLC alleged that on the night of July 27, 2020, some armed hoodlums ransacked the sealed secretariat of the NLC and vandalised equipment and installation worth millions of naira.
It said up till now, no single arrest had been made on the incident, adding that till date, workers were still looking for the kidnapped chairman of Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) in the state.
Workers’ concerns
In the statement, NLC listed its concerns to include “the payment of outstanding salary arrears, the governor deliberately refused to pay workers in the state especially to teachers and healthcare workers, promotion arrears since 2015, payment of pension and gratuity to retired workers in the state since 2015, and non-issuing of official circular to effect the payment/of the new national minimum wage.
“Other grievances are the alleged non-remittance of withheld check-off due deductions to unions in the state, unsealing of Rivers NLC Secretariat, the withdrawal of trumped up charges against labour leaders in Rivers State and cessation of harassment and assault on workers in the state.
“The foregoing demands are in line with workers’ rights as enshrined and guaranteed by Chapter Two of Nigeria’s Constitution, relevant sections of the Section 5(3) of the Labour Act, Section 17 of the Trade Union Act and Articles 1 – 4 of Convention 87 on the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise and Articles 1 – 4 of the Convention 98 on the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining of the International Labour Organisation (ILO),” it said.
RVSG cautions
But the Rivers state government has cautioned workers against going on strike, saying there is a subsisting court order which forbade them from doing so.
The state government said members of the two labour unions could only embark on an industrial action when a pending court order on the matter must have been decided.
The state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Professor Zacchaeus Adangor stated this weekend at a meeting with newsmen in Port Harcourt.
Adangor said the state government had a subsisting case in court with the unions, adding that rather than the union members to wait till September 29, when the matter was fixed for hearing, they were issuing threats of embarking on a strike.
He said the state had gone to the court to stop an indefinite action threat by the union members earlier in March.
The AGF said, in the suit filed before the Port Harcourt Division of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, government sought for interpretation of enabling laws relating to the strike.
“The NLC and Trade Union Congress failed or neglected to fulfil the condition precedent for the declaration of the strike action as prescribed in Section 4,6 and 18(1) (a) of the Trade Dispute Act, Cap T8, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
“Surprisingly, while the suit No. NICN/PH/41/2020 is still pending and the Interim Order of Injunction issued therein still subsisting, the defendants acting in collusion and concert with the national leadership of the organised labour (NLC and TUC) issued another threat of fresh strike in Rivers state based on the same reasons,” the state government said.
Culled from blueprint.ng
