As Workers embark on 5 days warning strike
NLC, affiliates want El-Rufai to rescind decision on mass sack of workers
It’s futile, we would not be blackmailed–Kaduna state govt.
By Ike Obi
Governor of Kaduna State Nasir el-rufai and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) led by Ayuba Wabba are set for a showdown following a directive by the labour union to all its affiliates to join a five-day warning strike that is certain to ground Kaduna state starting tommorow.
The the president of the NLC and other national President’s and affiliates, are expected to be on ground to ensure compliance.
The one week warning strike according to the NLC is to force the Kaduna state government to rescind its decision over the recent mass sack of workers in the state.
The Kaduna State Government over the weekend warned Labour that it would not be blackmailed by a proposed strike action, and directed civil servants to report for work on Monday arguing that it was not sustainable to continue spending 84 per cent to 96 per cent of its federal allocations on salaries and personnel costs, adding that it had been subjected to campaign of lies, misrepresentation and false claims that its rightsizing exercise affected over 4,000 workers and that it had stopped paying minimum wage.
Addressing a joint press conference, the state Commissioner for Local Government and the state’s Head of Service, Jafaru Ibrahim Sani and Hajiya Bari’atu Mohammed respectively, said the state government would not be blackmailed by “the criminal plans to attack and shut down power transmission stations, hospitals, government offices and infrastructure, such as waterworks and streetlights.”
It described the planned strike action as a “futile gestures,” saying it will protect its facilities and the right of its staff to access and work in their offices. “It is unlawful for anyone to try to deny them access or exit. Government offices are not the property of any trade unionist, and none of them should entertain thoughts of locking up or vandalising any facility,” it said.
The state government further stated that the strike action led by the NLC president was aimed at reprising the “mayhem they visited on Kaduna during their rampage of November 8, 2017,” adding that there is a subsisting warrant for the arrest of Wabba for the vandalisation of government facilities in 2017 and that security agencies have been notified to take steps to thwart any violent intent of the organisers.
“Apart from the restrictions imposed by COVID-19 protocols, a ban on public processions subsists in this state. This was imposed precisely because of the violence that has frequently broken out from such processions even when they began with innocent intent.
“The Trade Union Act is clear in prohibiting strike action by workers that are engaged in the provision of essential services. The law also forbids subjecting any other person to any kind of constraint or restriction of his personal freedom in the course of persuasion for strike action,” they stated.
While drawing a comparison with the strike action of 2017, the state government said it would not subject its policy to the veto of a mob, adding that the government did not campaign on a platform of tired populism and it was not elected to practise timidity as public policy.
But the Kaduna State secretary of NLC, Comrade Christiana John Bawa, in a press release, stated that no employer of the state government under the present leadership of Governor Nasir el’Rufai had job security nor is safe from disengagement, and stressed that all the affiliates of the NLC in the state had already directed their members to join the strike.
According to her, the unions include the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), National Union of Electricity Employees of Nigeria (NUEE), National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institution Employees (NUBIFIE) and the Nigeria Union of Railway.
Others include the National Association of Nurses and Midwives, Aviation workers Union, Construction Union, National Union of Local Government Employees.
Strike: Total Blackout In Kaduna As TCN Knocks Off All 33KV Lines
Ahead of the five-day warning strike directed by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to commence from midnight of Sunday in Kaduna, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has knocked off all the 33KV lines in Kaduna State in compliance with the directive.
The total blackout occurred from midnight on Saturday following an earlier warning by the National Union of Electricity Employees that it had been directed by the NLC to join the warning strike.
The NLC has commenced mobilising its affiliates to ensure a total economic shutdown of Kaduna State as part of efforts to force the government of Malam Nasir El-Rufai to rescind its policy of the sack of workers.
El-Rufai had on Saturday said his government would not bow to blackmail and insisted that it was not sustainable to spend 84 per cent to 96 per cent of its federal allocation on salaries and personnel costs.
The Kaduna State Government had stressed that it had been subjected to a campaign of lies, misrepresentation and false claims that its rightsizing exercise affected 4,000 workers and that it had stopped paying the minimum wage.
However, in a statement issued by the management of Kaduna Electric on Sunday, the company told its customers in Kaduna State that the service interruption as of Sunday was a result of the industrial action embarked upon by the NLC.
The statement issued by the disco’s Head, Corporate Communication, Abdulazeez Abdullahi, appealed to all communities, security agencies and vigilante groups to be vigilant so that criminals do not cash in on the situation to vandalise power supply installations.
“Any suspicious movement around distribution sub-stations [transformers] should be reported to the relevant security agency.
“We have the collective responsibility to protect these critical national assets in our neighbourhood,” he stated.
Earlier, the management of the disco had appealed to both government and the NLC to reach an amicable solution that will avert the strike action, saying as key stakeholders, Kaduna Electric was deeply concerned and hope that the talks would yield positive outcomes.
“Our concern is hinged on the fact that, as a private corporate organisation, we are inadvertently caught in the middle of the impasse.
“The workers union to which our staff belong is affiliated to the NLC hence they may be obliged to join any strike action called.
“We are on the other hand, a privately owned company that is not a party to the dispute. We offer a critical utility service the withdrawal of which will cause untold hardship on the citizenry,” the management stated on Saturday.
