Tag: NLC

The Senate on Wednesday, November 15, said it would discuss the ongoing strike by Nigerian workers with a view to finding a way forward

Senate president Godswill Akpabio disclosed this at the commencement of plenary by 12.00pm in Abuja.

Akpabio apologised to his colleagues on behalf of Nigerian workers for the inconveniences posed to free movement in and out of the National Assembly following the barricade of the gates by the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN) who are enforcing the strike action at the complex.

The Senate president also thanked the chamber staff for being able to find their way into the complex to prepare the chamber for plenary.

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He said the Senate would in a closed-door session discuss the strike under matters of urgent public importance and proffer a way forward.

Our correspondent alongside a few other journalists had struggled to gain entrance into the complex after over one hour at the barricades gates to be able to cover the plenary.

It was observed that only officers on level 14 and above were allowed entrance into the complex by the leadership of PASAN who locked the gates.

The lawmakers were also directed to take the Presidential Villa gate into the complex.

As the strike by Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) enters second day, court activities at the Federal High Court (FHC), Abuja were going on smoothly.

A check by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Showed that judges, staff, lawyers and litigants in the high-rise building were going their own businesses without hindrance.

From the 1st floor to the 5th floor that housed the 13 courts in the building, NAN observed that no fewer than eight courts were sitting.

It would also be recalled that court activities went on unchecked yesterday.

However, a notice of congress meeting by the FHC’s chapter of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) signed by its Public Relations Officer, G.A. Maku, said there would be emergency meeting of all staff by 11am today.

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It reads: “All members of staff are expected to converge at Ukeje Hall @11am this morning for an emergency meeting.

“This meeting is noteworthy as members will be briefed on the position of the union with regards to the on-going NLC strike action and other important issues please.”(NAN)

Mothers of newborns, many with infants in incubators, expressed concern and agitation as officials from the Niger state chapter of the Organized Labour visited the Jumai Babangida Neo-natal hospital to enforce the commencement of the indefinite strike as directed by the NLC

The women began crying and making frantic phone calls to different individuals and groups to appeal to the organized labour not to send them home as their babies were in critical condition.

The calls were directed to the Niger state NLC chairman, Comrade Idris Lafene, yielded results as the enforcement officials allowed those in the critical state to remain in the hospital.

Read Also: NLC strike: Schools, banks, others defy order in Ondo

The Minna General Hospital which was opened in the morning for health services was shut down by the officials.

The Niger State Secretariat, Agencies and public schools and educational institutions were shut down.

Students of the College of Education and the Fati Lami Abubakar College for Legal Studies were locked outside as they were not allowed access into the institutions while primary and secondary school students were seen loitering around.

Workers in Bauchi on Tuesday defied the indefinite nationwide strike embarked by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC).

The industrial action is sequel to the failure of the Federal Government to meet the demands of the workers due to the removal of fuel subsidy and alleged harrassment of the union officials by security agents.

Correspondents of the the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), who monitored the strike in Bauchi, reports that academic activities and business transanction continued unhindered in schools, hospitals and banks in the metropolis.

At Government Day Junior Secondary School, Gwallameji and Sa’adu Zungur Secondary School, Bauchi, teachers and students were seen taking lesson in classes.

Mr Abubakar Sadiq, an instructor in the school, said that they were yet to receive formal or written directives on the strike.

“We are under the state government and we are still waiting for a circular informing us to embark on the strike.

“We can’t just go on strike without receiving a circular to that effect, hence normal academic activities will continue in the schools.

“Students’ attendance is 100 per cent just like any other day,” he said.

Also, normal services continued at Yelwa Labourer Primary Healthcare Centre and health facilities in the metropolis.

However, the strike paralysed services in schools, clinics, banks and other financial institutions in Kano.

NAN reports that few workers reported to work at the state and Federal Government’s secretariats in partial compliance to the industrial action.

Students of public primary and secondary schools were sent home in compliance with strike.

The strike also paralysed the ongoing First Semester examination at the Bayero University Kano,  as the examination halls shut behind desperate students.

Read Also: NLC strike: Schools, banks, others defy order in Ondo

Similarly; some of the banks were also closed with a handful of them running skeletal services.

The NLC Chairman in the state, Kabiru Inuwa, said that they were working to ensure full compliance with the strike.

“We are monitoring compliance as our officials are at the state secretariat to ensure workers do not resume in their offices,” he said

He said the industrial action achieved 75 per cent compliance in the state.

(NAN)

The chairman of the Anambra chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Humphrey Nwafor, said workers in the state had already joined the strike as directed by the national body.

He said defaulters of the directives would be dealt with accordingly.

He said: “We’ve joined the strike. We’ve directed our members to stay away from their offices and workplaces till further notice.

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“There won’t be any street protests. We’re only withdrawing our services as directed by the national body.”

When contacted, the press secretary to the governor, Christian Aburime, promised to react later when a text message was sent to him.

But five hours later he was called, his phone rang out and he did not return the calls.

Unions in the Aviation Industry are yet to join the nationwide strike ordered by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC).

Aviation unions who are affiliates of the labour movement said they were yet to meet and strategise on how to implement the directive by their parent bodies.

Aviation unions affiliated with the labour movement have not yet convened to strategize on implementing the directive from their parent bodies.

The secretary-general of the Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP), Comrade Abdulrazak Saidu, mentioned that this is the reason for the absence of disruptions in flight operations as of today.

Investigation revealed that all scheduled flights have so far been operated without hitches.

Read Also: UPDATED: NLC, TUC declare strike, ask members to stay away from work

Activities at the two local wings of the local terminals and international in Lagos are ongoing as usual and as expected.

However, members of the unions have been put on alert to effect the directive when the go-ahead is given.

The NLC and TUC had on Monday, November 12, directed all affiliates to begin an indefinite strike at midnight today this is despite an injunction by the National Industrial Court, NIC restraining the NLC and TUC including its affiliates from embarking on strike.

The strike is to express their grievances over the maltreatment of the NLC president, Comrade Joe Ajaero, and others on November 1st in Owerri the Imo state capital.

The Imo state civil servants and bank workers on Tuesday, November 14, ignored the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) leadership’s directive for workers to embark on a nationwide strike.

Our correspondent who monitors the strike, reports that workers defied the order of the labour union as the gates to the secretariat were wide opened for workers.

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Several workers were seen at the various duty posts discussing the outcome of the governorship election which was won by Governor Hope Uzodimma for another four-year term.

Also, all the banks in the state attended to their customers, but some courts complied with the directive as some litigants who were not aware of the strike came to the court to hear their cases.

At Douglas Road, Wetheral Road, and Bank Road, people were seen transacting businesses in the banks along these axes.

However, at some of the federal establishments such as Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO) and Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Owerri, workers stayed away from the offices.

Some of the senior staff of FUTO told the Nation: “We are on strike.”

Detail shortly…

The Southern Youth Wing of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), on Tuesday, November 14, called for a peaceful resolution between the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Imo state government over the continued blackout in the state.

The chairman of the union, Oluchukwu Green Nnabugwu, made this appeal while speaking to newsmen in Owerri, on the controversies that led to the industrial dispute. 

Recall that the NLC president, Joe Ajaero, had last week Wednesday, November 8, visited Imo state for strike action, but he was allegedly beaten by yet-to-be-identified thugs. 

However, Oluchukwu, who is also the convener of Imo Christian Youth Peace Initiative (ICYPI) said: “CAN sympathises with the NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajero for the reported assault on him in the state.”

He urged the government to take steps to resolve the impasse, blaming the NLC for not exploiting other means of settlement like petitioning the police for investigations and then going to court before resorting to a call for industrial action.

He added that allowing the masses who are the utmost priority for the creation of the union, to languish in pain was uncalled for.

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Oluchukwu noted: “If I were Ajaero, I would never engage with the Imo State Government directly being an indigene. I will send a delegation. It is not mandatory that the president of NLC must be on good terms with his own Governor because the relationship is not by force. But wisdom calls that the situation where the state is going through the electioneering process,  security threats, and all that, I feel shutting down the state a few days before the election is not the best solution to resolving the conflict.

“Let me say this, NLC should watch it, they are losing the support of people on this matter and soon their house will be divided if care is not taken.”

He expressed surprise that in all these issues there were nowhere the governor was linked.

He added: “It is a clear fact that factions will always try to undo each other but why I’m surprised is that I cannot directly connect the governor to the incident, people connected were the two factions and the police.”

Taraba state workers were seen in their various places of work on Tuesday, November 14, in defiance of the Nigeria Labour Congress’ (NLC) order for a nationwide strike.

The Nation reporter visited the state secretariat where most of the ministries and parastatals are situated and workers were busy with their work while others were hanging around the premises.

Normal activities were going on in the banks at the opening of business in the morning.

Efforts to reach the state NLC chairman to comment on the situation were not successful as he was unable to pick up his calls.

Read Also: UPDATED: NLC, TUC declare strike, ask members to stay away from work

However, a staff disclosed that the NLC team was going around enforcing the order.

The state workers were yet to receive their October salary which the governor ordered must be paid with the new N30,000 minimum wage. The latest order delayed payment since a new voucher was to be generated to reflect the increase.

It is therefore learnt that the defiance by the workers may be tactics deployed to avoid compounding their long wait for salaries.

State and Federal workers resumed on Tuesday to meet the secretariat and offices under lock and key. 

Some Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) members, who mounted the gates, informed the workers that a stay-at-home strike had commenced from 12am. 

At the State Secretariat, workers made u-turn to their homes as they met the gate manned by labor union members. 

They were also at the Federal secretariat located about 300 meters from the State secretariat. 

The same scenario was noticed at banks in the state capital, Jos. 

Read Also: UPDATED: NLC, TUC declare strike, ask members to stay away from work

Some bankers however pleaded to be allowed to run skeletal services for today for full compliance tomorrow. 

Some of the labor union leaders at the Federal Secretariat declined comments, saying their chapter will be the one to talk to reporters. 

Details Shortly…