The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has expressed concerns over the newly adopted National Industrial Relations Policy by the Federal Government.
In a statement made available to newsmen on Saturday in Abuja, NLC President, Joe Ajaero, alleged that the new policy would make embarking on strikes a criminal issue and silence trade unions.
“NLC considers the statement by the Federal Government that the newly-adopted National Industrial Relations Policy is aimed at stopping frequent industrial actions, particularly strikes by trade unions, as very reprehensible.
“The statement was part of the press release by the Federal Government at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting which took place on July 31.
“We are in shock that from a catalogue of hundreds of workplace issues contained in the National Industrial Relations Policy, the Federal Government singled out industrial strikes as its headache.
“The press statement exposes the mindset of those who were elected to protect the interests of the ordinary citizen, including workers,” he said.
Ajaero recalled earlier attempts, during the development of the National Industrial Relations Policy for Nigeria, to insert certain clauses that criminalised strikes.
He said the trade unions, employers and the representatives of the Federal Ministry of Labour rejected such insertions, which they described as anomalous to the 1999 Constitution and the Trade Unions Act.
He said the Constitution and Trade Union Act give trade unions the power to withdraw their services in line with the law.
The NLC president described the fresh insertion into the National Industrial Relations Policy as inferior to the Constitution and Trade Union Act.
“The right of a worker and trade unions to withdraw their services is fundamental and inalienable. The NLC and Organised Labour in Nigeria condemn and reject the new law in industrial relations in Nigeria,” he reiterated.
Ajaero assured Nigerian workers that the leadership of the congress and the labour movement remained watchful on their mandate of protecting the rights, interests and hard-won industrial liberties of workers.
According to him, the rights and interests are guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution, labour laws and fundamental international labour standards to which Nigeria is signatory.
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