Nigeria’s two predominant labor unions staged a nationwide strike on Tuesday, choosing to ignore a court order. This dramatic action by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) is predicted to persist indefinitely “until the government at all levels wakes up to their responsibilities,” as was made clear during their joint announcement of the strike. This move comes in the wake of the alleged assault of NLC President Joe Ajaero by Nigerian authorities. Find out more about the launch here.
The NLC and TUC have put forth six conditions that must be satisfied before they consider terminating the strike. These conditions underscore their perceived infringements on workers’ rights by the state government. The unions believe that governmental actions have led to the illegal dismissal of more than 600 workers, along with the accumulation of overdue payments, spanning 42 months, to workers and pensioners.
Earlier, legal representatives of the federal government attempted to nullify the planned strike, arguing it would inflict hardship on law-abiding citizens and business enterprises. On November 10, Justice Beneduct Backwash of the National Industrial Court issued an injunction barring the labor unions from initiating strike action in the state. The presidency, responding to this development, expressed its disappointment over the lack of respect the current labor leaders have shown for the court order.
However, the NLC maintains that they did not receive appropriate notification of the court order lodged against them by the federal government. Further, they are advocating for social dialogue over judicial adjudication of trade disputes, and express their readiness to partake in such dialogues if invited by the federal government. You can read more about their stance here.
It is noteworthy that NLC members previously went on strike in early September due to Nigeria’s rising cost of living crisis. As with their recent Tuesday announcement, the NLC pointed to the federal government’s failure to establish vital structures to alleviate widespread suffering in the nation during this previous industrial action.
To learn more about this ongoing situation, you can read the original article here.