The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) have condemned what they described as a “one-sided” ruling of the National Industrial Court in Abuja on the ongoing strike by workers in the Federal Capital Territory, vowing to stand firmly with the workers until their demands were met.
In a joint statement signed by the Acting General Secretary of the NLC, Comrade Benson Upah and the Secretary General of the TUC, Comrade Nuhu Toro, the labour centres accused the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, of treating FCT workers “shabbily” and resorting to intimidation rather than dialogue.
According to the unions, the court ruling, which ordered the suspension of the strike, was aimed at breaking workers’ resolve and “making workers perpetual slaves.”
They said they had expected the FCT minister to use the court’s intervention as an opportunity to reach an amicable settlement with organised labour, but alleged that he instead issued threats to the striking workers.
The statement partly reads: “As patently skewed as the ruling was, we had thought Mr Wike would use the window to reach out to organised labour for an amicable resolution of the issues, but he had boastfully resorted to threats against workers.
“The offenses committed against the FCT workers are serious enough. To add intimidation, humiliation, insults and harassment to the menu is something we cannot watch from the sidelines.
“Workers cannot be made slaves in their country. We stand for the rule of law and its observance to the hilt, no matter the status of the parties to this dispute.
The labour centres clarified that the strike had not been lawfully halted, insisting that the interlocutory injunction obtained by the FCT minister was issued against two individual union leaders and not against the trade unions involved in the industrial action.
“So the strike continues. We not only support the workers in this action, we urge them to maintain high morale in the face of relentless threats. Defend your rights with courage and dignity and not with fear.”
The Labour centres also issued a rare warning to the judiciary, commending judges who, according to them, protect the rights of the weak and the poor, while cautioning “cash-and-carry judges” whose conduct, they said, imperils society.
Such judges, the labour leaders warned, “cannot be insulated from the consequences of the storms they create and will be held accountable.”
The Labour centres stressed that the strike would persist until the FCT minister “comes off his high horse and negotiates with the workers. It is safer to die on your feet than live on your knees”