JUST IN : All NLC, TUC Workers, unions comply with nationwide strike order today.
Affiliate unions have joined the statewide strike that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) first declared a week ago.
The NLC posted circulars from the unions demonstrating their adherence to the rule on Facebook this morning.
According to Channels TV, the unions involved were the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Polytechnics (SSANIP), the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria, and the National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees (NUBIFIE).
Others are the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), the National Union of Food Beverage and Tobacco Employees, the Maritime Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MWUN), the National Union of Electricity Employees, and the Nigeria Union of Railway Workers.
The walkout follows the physical attack that NLC National President Joe Ajaero and other NLC members endured in Imo State two weeks ago while staging a protest against “non-payment of salaries and pensions for 44 months and violation of other labour rights.”
Some people saw the protest as an attempt to undermine Governor Hope Uzodimma’s reelection campaign in the governorship race that was held last Saturday.
In response to Ajaero’s ordeal, organised labour demanded that a statewide strike start today.
But after the standoff with the Imo State Government, the National Industrial Court (NIC) stopped them from going on strike.
The unions issued a statement yesterday ordering employees countrywide to stop providing services at midnight, despite the court’s decision.
The unions released a joint statement saying, “All workers in Nigeria are hereby directed to withdraw their services effective 12:00 midnight today, November 13, 2023, in furtherance to the decision of the Joint National Executive Council (NEC) of NLC and TUC.”
As a result, “all NLC/TUC affiliates and state councils are directed to issue circulars for maximum compliance, and these circulars be posted to the NEC and CWC Whatsapp Platforms or made available to the National Secretariats.”
In addition to providing members with additional information regarding the countrywide walkout, organised labour advised them to “remain assured of our commitment to Nigerian workers and people.”
“We’re Concerned”
The union claims that Imo state orchestrated the attack on the NLC chief in order to quell demonstrations in support of workers’ rights. According to the union, Ajaero was severely injured, loaded into a van, and placed into temporary custody.
NLC and TUC vowed to go on a statewide strike on November 14 in response to the incident, citing the government’s refusal to accede to their demands—which included the resignation of police officers.
“We are concerned that organising a nonviolent protest as a group of workers in Nigeria has turned into a crime,” they stated.
Travellers were left stuck last week when the unions picketed the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja in an effort to push home their demands.
The attendance at recent strikes has been uneven. Following the government’s offer of a package of measures to mitigate the effects of its economic reforms, the unions decided last month to abandon their scheduled strike in protest of increased living expenses.
