Why we suspended strike, by Labour

[TGD]

 ANPP, others flay action, Tambuwal cautions govt

LEADERS of Nigerian workers who called off a planned nationwide strike yesterday defended their action even as  diverse reactions  poured in.

For the Speaker of the House of Representatives,  Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, the three tiers of the government must not play politics with issues concerning taxes and wages of  workers.

Most Nigerian cities were in confusion yesterday as workers were not sure if the strike over the non-implementation of the new minimum wage was going to go ahead or not.

The coast became clear about whether the strike would hold or not at about 11.45 Tuesday night when the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Abdulwaheed Omar, read a seven-point statement that announced the suspension of the strike.

But this in itself was in contravention of the powers bestowed on the National Executive Council (NEC) of the NLC, which has the prerogative to reverse its earlier resolution.

For the simple reason that it is this highest  decision-making body that can reverse the termination of the strike, Labour watchers were aghast that a few members of the National Administrative Council (NAC) who were present at the meeting could reverse the start of the strike.

But reacting to the insinuation that the leadership of the Congress might have acted in error, the Head of Information of the NLC, Chris Uyot, told The Guardian yesterday in Abuja that due process was followed.

He said: "It is the duty of NEC to do that (reversing the strike order). But the body can delegate its powers if its objectives were met by the negotiating team. In this case, all the demands set out by the NEC were met by the team that negotiated. Besides, the chairman of the strike committee, Promise Adewusi, was there at the meeting, so also was the President, Abdulwaheed Omar and some high-ranking NLC officials. The NEC would have still met if the objectives set out were not met and therefore needs some level of re-adjustment and re-consideration but in this case, all we asked for were met by government."

The statement that conveyed the agreement read in part: "The Federal Government agrees to comply with the New Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act 2011. The Federal Government shall conclude negotiations with Labour on the implementation of the New Minimum Wage not later than July 31, 2011. Detailed negotiations on the relativity implication(s) of the implementation of the New National Minimum Wage Act, 2011 will be concluded not later than July 31, 2011. The new wages will be implemented with effect from August 1, 2011. The arrears of the new wages with effect from March 23, 2011 will be paid not later than August 31, 2011. No workers shall be victimised in any manner or form as a consequence of the implementation of the new National Minimum Wage. In line with the agreement earlier reached with the Federal Government and state governors, Labour resolves to suspend the three-day warning strike across the country."

The statement was signed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, Minister of Labour and Productivity, Emeka Wogu; Head of Service of the Federation, Prof. Oladapo Afolabi; Omar and Trade Union Congress (TUC) President, Peter Esele.

But on the streets of Abuja, residents voiced their anger about the high level of uncertainty that surrounded the botched strike.

The momentary return of fuel queues boosted by the anxiety over the botched strike raised fares in Abuja on Tuesday. Most of the offices were half empty as most workers chose to stay away or either travelled out of town yesterday.

In Lagos, it was a bedlam from about 7.00 p.m. when all fuel tankers and articulated lorries all wanted to leave the city at the same time to various destinations. The traffic jam they caused in severalparts of Lagos lasted till early Wednesday morning

Michael  a civil servant in Abuja,  related his experience to The Guardian.

"What I am going through even now is terrible. I am yet to get out of the suspension of the strike. I wondered why it was suspended in the night when everybody had gone to bed believing there would be a strike. I think Labour and government are not sincere or too insensitive to the plight of the Nigerian people. I think next time, Labour should be firmer. I have not seen this fierceness that characterised (now Governor Adams) Oshiomhole's tenure in this present crop of leaders in the Labour movement," he said.

Tambuwal spoke as the Deputy Speaker, Emeka Ihedioha, commended the NLC, the TUC and other members of organised Labour for suspending the strike.

The speaker who gave the warning during plenary session while speaking on the botched strike, advised that whenever issues concerning the upward review of wages come up in the future the stakeholders should ensure that everything is resolved and all agreements reached before being made public.

The speaker said this became necessary so as to avoid the unnecessary tension that had enveloped the country in the last few days over the non-implementation of the national minimum wage, adding that the ugly situation was a lesson for all stakeholders.

He however commended the organised Labour, the Federal and state governments for reaching an understanding that led to the peaceful resolution of the crisis.  He also commended the Senate for the mature approach it adopted in dealing with the matter when the issue was raised in the upper chamber.

Striking workers in Osun State yesterday compelled the state Deputy Governor, Mrs. Titi Laoye Tomori and the Head of Service,  Segun Akinwusi, to trek some distance to their offices as they prevented vehicular movement into the state secretariat.

They embarked on the strike in spite of the suspension of the national action to press home the implementation of the N18,000 minimum wage following  the expiration of their 14-day ultimatum served on the government.

The workers told the deputy governor that they were not against the state government but wanted a written agreement on the N18,000 minimum wage  that would be satisfactory to the parties.

Speaker of Ebonyi State House of Assembly, Ikechukwu Nwankwo, commended the leadership of the NLC and TUC for the "maturity, patriotism and sense of responsibility" they displayed in shelving the proposed warning strike.

Some banks in Lagos resorted to alerting their workers yesterday morning via text messages to report to work, in case any of them did not hear the televised suspension of the strike.

Civil servants, bankers and school teachers and pupils  in Akwa Ibom State heeded  the call by Labour leaders that they should   report to work as the planned strike had been suspended.

The Guardian's  investigations revealed that at the Idongesit Nkanga secretariat, workers were seen reporting to work, although some of them came late. Banks were  also  seen attending to their customers.

All the primary and nursery schools within the state capital were opened as pupils were seen playing around their school compounds.

The National Chairman of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) , Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, faulted the Federal Government's handling of the whole processes leading to the last-minute suspension of the action.

He expressed relief that the strike was suspended, but he was of the view that the process could have been handled in a better way than the government did. According to him, "a lot of people who wanted to travel had to shelve it because the news of the suspension was relayed early this morning (yesterday).

"Yesterday (Tuesday), I saw long queues, people left what they were doing to go and buy fuel because they thought there would be strike and as a result, the nation lost a lot in that process. I feel these are things that should be avoided."

Speaking during an interaction with reporters in Abuja, Onu berated the prolonged negotiations with the leadership of the organised Labour before the suspension of the strike.

The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) commended the organised Labour for its insistence that the government at all levels in Nigeria implement the N18,000 minimum wage for workers.   CNPP, however, urged the unions not to allow the government take Nigerians back to the past era, where industrial action and empty promises became the order of the day.

The Secretary General of CNPP, Chief Willy Ezugwu in a statement in Enugu yesterday said the stand taken by the NLC and the TUC had helped Nigerian workers  to  call the attention of government to the  plight of ordinary Nigerians.

In Ogun State, many civil servants did not report to work, apparently due to the fact that they received the announcement of the call-off of the strike late in the morning. Most of them read the news in some of the national dailies, which arrived in Abeokuta at about 8.00 a.m.



The Guardian