By Abdullahi M. Gulloma
Is the era of avoidable workers strike coming to an end in Nigeria? So it seems. In fact, news tend to suggest that the country will welcome the dawn of reasonable and rationale relationship between workers and employers of labour.
The news emanated from the federal government which said, Wednesday, that it would, henceforth, enforce the ‘no work, no pay’ provision contained in the country’s labour laws if its employers in any sector of the economy go on strike.
Specifically, the position of the federal government was made known by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Mr. Chris Ngige, at the end of the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja.
“No work, no pay is not a rule neither is it a policy. It is a law captured in the Trade Union Act of Laws of the Federation of Nigeria – Section 43 to be precise. It says that workers have the right to disengage their services from their employers if there is a breakdown of negotiations, but for the period that the workers do so, the employers should not pay and those periods are to be counted as non-pensionable times,” he said. “So, council today emphasised that the law is still in place and the law should be brought to the knowledge of workers in the public sector, in the private sector, especially those in the public sector.”
The minister said that, and he couldn’t be more right, that the Buhari-led administration had to implement the rules because of the spate of industrial crises the country suffered in the last two months, engaged by workers from many sectors of the economy.
He said that, henceforth, collective bargaining agreement containing output of negotiations during industrial actions should be signed and domiciled in the Ministry of Labour and Employment, highlighting the fact that previous agreements were not signed and officially documented in the ministry.
Of course, the administration can only be commended for taking this decision which, though, may appear anti-labour, but it’s patriotic and commendable in nature. After all, there’s little or no doubt that workers’ strikes have become rampant, pointless and, in some cases, political, with no bearing on the need to improve conditions of workers. Above all, the union leaders, in some situations, have lost touch with the socio-economic realities of the country and, in the process, struggle for what cannot be entertained by governments.
Again, as the minister has observed, some of the unions’ leaders have since deviated from the path of democracy while pretending to fight for the entrenchment of democracy.
“We looked at another recommendation in terms of people who are permanently doing union activities,” the minister said. “They are presidents of trade unions for life. They criticise those who are trying to do third term or fourth term but they sit tight. So, my ministry was asked to fish out those unions whose constitutions do not have term limit. Such unions should be made to comply with the law so people can be elected.”
Of course, unions, like all ideal democratic institutions, should set time limit for their leadership. Otherwise, they’ll serve the opposite purpose of unionism and be autocratic and unpatriotic. Certainly, we don’t need this in the country. We never did.
Henceforth, it shall be made known to unions that he who seeks improved conditions of service must in process of his doing so show utmost respect for the country’s laws and interest for its survival.
