Despite Court Injunction, Labour Insists Strike Goes on Tomorrow

* Says it’s not aware of any judicial process
* FG awaits tripartite committee report
* ASUU resumes industrial action

Organised labour was adamant yesterday that its nationwide
strike scheduled to start tomorrow would proceed despite a National
Industrial Court’s Friday ruling, restraining workers from shunning
work until the determination of a suit instituted by the federal
government on the dispute over national minimum wage.

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice,
Mr. Abubakar Malami, had approached the court on Friday and asked
it to stop the strike, pending the determination of the substantive
suit the federal government had filed.

The court obliged him with a restraining order, putting the
strike on hold.

But organised labour said having not been served with any court
process, it was unaware of the court ruling, therefore, the
tomorrow’s strike shall proceed as planned.

Labour also denied knowledge of a meeting held at the office of
the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and
attended by the SGF, Mr. Boss Mustapha, and Minister of Labour and
Employment, Senator Chris Ngige.

As the federal government made last minute efforts to stave off
the strike, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU)
announced the resumption of its strike suspended months ago,
accusing government of not keeping to its promise of acceding to
its demands. The strike is indefinite.

Workers under the aegis of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC)
and Trade Union Congress (TUC) had threatened to go on national
strike to compel the government and the private sector employers to
pay N30,000 as new minimum wage.

Whereas the federal government has offered to pay N24,000 and
state governments, N22,500, labour has insisted that it is either
N30,000 or no deal.

Following the deadlock, the federal government approached the
National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) in Abuja and obtained
an order restraining the organised labour from proceeding with the
nationwide strike.

Delivering ruling in an ex-parte application by the Attorney
General of the Federation (AGF), Justice Kado Sanusi restrained the
NLC and the TUC from engaging in the proposed strike pending the
determination of the substantive suit filed by the federal
government and the AGF.

Justice Sanusi also restrained the NLC, TUC and the Incorporated
Trustees of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum listed as the first to
the third defendants from taking steps capable of destroying the
subject of the dispute.

However, the labour unions said they were not aware of any court
order stopping the strike.

While giving update on the planned strike, the General Secretary
of the NLC, Mr. Peter Essom, said tomorrow’s national strike would
go ahead as planned.

Essom who spoke to THISDAY on telephone yesterday evening, said
labour had not been served with any court proceeding.

He said, “The conditions we have given is clear, pay the N30,000
agreed by the tripartite committee on minimum wage. “The government
should act on it; that is the only thing we know about. We don’t
know anything about court; strike is going on as planned on
Tuesday. We are not aware of any other development.”

Also the NLC scribe said that labour was not part of the meeting
convened yesterday by the SGF and would not be bound by its
decision.

“We are not aware of any meeting at the SGF and we are not part
of it,” he added.

Meanwhile, labour and all its affiliate unions yesterday sent
out messages sensitising its members and Nigerians on the rationale
for the industrial action.

In a statement signed by the Chairperson of Joint Action Force
(JAF), Dr. Dipo Fashina, and General Secretary, Mr. Abiodun Aremu,
the unions said the current demand for a new National Minimum Wage
has gone beyond the stage of negotiation.

The statement said the N30,000 agreed at the Tripartite
Committee, which is even very poor (at $83 per month compared to
1981 Minimum Wage of N125 at $250), represents an irreducible
minimum for industrial peace.

According to the statement, “What is clear today from the
unnecessary tensions being generated in the polity by the APC
Looters’ Government and its officials is that none of the 36 state
governors and the federal government, irrespective of political
parties (APC, PDP and APGA), like in the past struggles for upward
review of wage, is committed to pay the minimum wage without being
compelled by struggle to do so.

“JAF therefore challenges the presidency, state governors and
legislators in the national and state assemblies to forfeit the
questionable security votes/ undisclosed allowances, and cut down
their outrageous total packages, and salaries and allowances of
other political office holders in order to free up more resources
that can be used not only to augment the cost of the new wage, but
also the provision of social welfare programmes, such as free and
quality education and free and adequate health care.”

The unions said that as a regulator, the federal government has
a responsibility to enforce compliance of the minimum wage on both
public and private employers of 50 employees and above. They said
that the government should call the Minister of Labour and
Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige to order and to stop spreading
falsehoods and deepening the tensions in the polity.

The unions said, “In addition, the federal government should
prevail on its agent – Minister Ngige to submit the reports of the
Tripartite Committee that agreed on the N30,000 Minimum, and the
federal government should prepare immediately a N30,000 new minimum
wage bill and send to the National Assembly.

“JAF wants to alert and urge organised labour and Nigerians to
further demand that the N30,000 new minimum wage must be
implemented to the fullest, without retrenchment and the arrears of
salaries and allowances owed on the basis of the 2011 Minimum Wage
Act must be paid.

“JAF takes strong notice of the manipulative court injunction
obtained by the federal government on Friday November 2, 2018, with
the criminal intent to undermine the impending strike action, but
JAF is resolved that the strike action must continue.”

FG awaits tripartite committee report

But the federal government has said that the Tripartite
Committee on the national minimum wage set up November last year
will meet today and submit its reports to President Muhammadu
Buhari for consideration.

The SGF, Mustapha, disclosed yesterday at the continuation of
the Reconciliation Committee meeting between government and labour,
which started on Friday.

But the NLC shunned yesterday’s meeting that had in attendance
the federal government representatives, the Organised Private
Sector and the National Salary and Income CommissionNgige, and the
Minister of Finance, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, went into a technical
session after the reconciliation committee sitting.

NLC shunned the meeting, claiming it was not informed it was
taking place.

The tripartite committee was set up as a result of the outcome
of the negotiation between government and labour unions, when
subsidy was removed from some aspects of petroleum products last
year.

Mustapha, told reporters that the deliberations of the committee
would be concluded when the committee ratifies its recommendations,
while it will subsequently send the report to the president for
approval.

He said, “Government is desirous to receive the report once the
Tripartite Committee concludes its sitting. We are waiting for the
report to be concluded and transmitted to the government.

Once that is done, we will set the processes that are required
for the purpose of effecting the recommendations of the
committee.

According to him, after the president receives the report, it
will subsequently send it as draft bill to the National Assembly,
National Economic Committee and the Council of State before it is
drafted as a bill.

Speaking to reporters at the end of the technical meeting, Ngige
said they expected to meet labour leaders on Monday at the
reconciliation meeting.

The minister said union leaders were only making up excuses for
shunning the parley held on Sunday.

“It is a continuation of meeting that we had on Friday and it’s
programmed to be a reconciliation meeting before we hold the
tripartite committee on Monday. Their absence did not affect the
outcome of the meeting,” Ngige said.

He said what government is offering labour is N24,000 as the
minimum wage and is not in support of the N22,500 and N30,000
offers made by state governors.

He said the next meeting will look at the template and know how
to accommodate government’s position, saying what the outcome
reached on Monday will be consensual.

ASUU Declares Indefinite Strike

Meanwhile, ASUU last night announced the resumption of the
nationwide strike it suspended last September.

The resumption of the strike was announced by the ASUU
president, Biodun Ogunyemi, at a news conference he addressed at
the end of the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held at the
Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Ondo State.

The ASUU boss said the strike became necessary in view of the
failure by the federal government to implement many items in the
2017 Memorandum of Action on certain agreements reached with the
government over the years

Specifically, the ASUU said the government failed in the area of
implementation on the release of N20 billion revitalisation fund as
a sign of commitment to implement the Needs Assessment Report and
the N1.8 trillion for revitalisation of universities.

The ASUU also alleged that the federal government also failed to
release the report of the forensic audit, payment of outstanding
amount and mainstreaming of EAA into the 2018 budget as well as
payment of arrears of shortfall in salaries.

Ogunyemi also condemned the underfunding of university education
and undue interference in the affairs of state universities and the
failure of the government to payment of EAA to their loyal members
in University of Ilorin.

“Today, our union has observed that the most important overall
government policy thrust in university education is privatisation.
The private universities clearly fill the bill of elites that have
decided to rob the people and rape our country by creating private
universities whose staff and students surrender to market
forces.

“Our union has run of patience with government unpreparedness to
address old and new challenges facing the Nigerian university
system.

“There can be no justification for government’s failure to
address outstanding components of the 2017 Memorandum of Action and
concluding the renegotiation given the reckless spending by our
leaders on primary elections and bailout to banks.

“It is evident that government is not interested in funding
public universities.

“ASUU and Nigerians were betrayed over the 2009 agreement. The
2012 MOU, 2013 MOU, 2017 MOA and continue to erect barricades in
concluding the renegotiation of the 2009 agreement,” Oagunyemi
stated.

He therefore directed all ASUU members to withdraw their
services until government fully implement all outstanding issues as
contained in the 2017 MOA and conclude renegotiation of 2009
agreement.