NLC, TUC shelve planned protest, ask FCTA employees to resume work

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress(TUC) have directed members on the payroll of the Federal Capital TerritoryAdministration (FCTA) to resume work immediately. The decision was reached following a meeting between theunions, Nyesom Wike, minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and thesenate committee on FCT. The meeting commenced on Monday night and ended in the earlyhours of Tuesday. In a statement released after the meeting, the unions saidcomplaints of the Joint Union Action Congress (JUAC) were fully addressedduring the meeting. The unions said it was agreed that all cases in the nationalindustrial court pertaining to the dispute should be withdrawn. “The honourable Minister assured Organised Labour of mutualrespect and sustained engagement going forward,” the statement reads. “It was agreed that, arising from the strike action, noworker shall be victimised in any manner. “All outstanding cases at the National Industrial Court(NIC) shall be withdrawn immediately. “Consequently, all JUAC members and all affiliates of theTUC and NLC working in the Ministry of the FCT (MFCT) are hereby directed toresume work immediately. “All affiliates are enjoined to comply strictly with thisdirective in the interest of industrial peace and harmony in good faith.” The statement was jointly signed by Nuru Toro, TUCsecretary-general, and Benson Upah, acting NLC general secretary. On Monday, a national industrial court in Abuja restrainedNLC and TUC from embarking on the protest scheduled for Tuesday, February 3. Emmanuel Subilim, the presiding judge, gave the rulingfollowing an ex parte application filed by Wike and the FCTA. BACKGROUND On January 19, FCTA workers began an indefinite strike over“authorities’ failure to address long-standing labour and welfare demands”. The strike led to the shutdown of activities acrosssecretariats, departments and agencies of the FCTA and FCDA, which prompted theminister to sue the JUAC. On January 27, a national industrial court in Abuja orderedthe workers to suspend the strike Delivering the ruling, the presiding judge held thatalthough the matter before the court amounted to a trade dispute, thedefendants’ right to embark on industrial action was not absolute. The judge had said once a dispute has been referred to thenational industrial court, any ongoing strike must cease pending thedetermination of the case. On January 27, the office of the head of civil service inthe FCTA directed all workers across its secretariats, departments and agenciesto immediately resume duties. However, the NLC asked its members to continue their strikeaction.

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