NLC restates support for unions, blame FG

The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has stated that the Federal and State Governments were responsible for the ongoing ASUU strike, as well as threats of other strikes by different unions in the country.
While blaming the government for failing to abide by agreements reached with different unions in the country, it hailed the sustained action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
The acting General Secretary of the NLC, Mr. Chris Uyot, in an interview with our source, said ASUU deserved more attention than it is currently receiving, as it has to do with the improvement of facilities and standard of education in the country.
“ASUU is our affiliate and for every step they have taken, we have been with them; we have been briefed. The NLC is as invested in this case as ASUU itself. The vice-president has been appointed to take over the negotiations and the ball is now in the court of the government as it were. We do not think that the government has given it the type of attention it deserves,” he said.
He said government’s refusal to honour agreements, negates its much publicized concept of the rule of law and order.
“The essence of negotiations for collective bargaining to bring about an agreement is to ensure that there is peace and harmony in the workplace, to bring about better understanding between employers and employees. So if we decide to manipulate agreements that have come through mutual negotiations, we are distorting the very concept of industrial relations which is the foundation of peace and harmony and stability in the workplace. It means we are trying to distort our own laws that guide these things,” he added.
“The world this day is guided by social dialogue and one of the tenets of social dialogue is mutual respect for agreements that have been entered by the partners. When you want to extricate the outcome of something that came through social dialogue, then you are invariably calling for chaos. Both federal and state governments seem to be more interested in violations of agreements and this is the major cause of industrial crises.”
Uyot expressed the readiness of the labour movement to honour agreements entered though collective bargaining and urged the government to do same.
“On our part as labour, we are ready at anytime to respect agreements that are mutually reached, but government is making it a tradition to disrespect the same agreement; you cannot run a workplace or a country like that.
“Government needs to rethink on the issue of collective agreements seriously. We feel sad that the country has been made to experience these problems because our leaders are running a system that respects the same laws which they have set,” Uyot added

Source: THISDAY

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NLC to Jonathan - "ASUU strike not politically motivated"

The Nigeria Labour Congress,NLC, yesterday, called on President Goodluck Jonathan to discountenance the impression that ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, was a political action against his government as nothing could be farther from the truth.
It then advised the President to tackle the crises in the education sector and prevent a shut-down of the sector.
NLC in a statement by its President, Abdulwaheed Omar, told President Jonathan that those telling him that the strike was politically motivated were the President’s enemies who rather than tell him the truth preferred to indulge in sycophancy, hypocrisy and boot-licking.
The statement titled “Do Not Allow Education Sector to Shut-Down”, reads: “The Nigeria Labour Congress calls on President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to tackle the crises in the education sector and prevent shut-down of the sector. We urge Mr. President to muster the necessary will and skill to confront the issues that threaten this vital sector.
Asuu cartoon
“As President of the country, he has the onerous task of restoring normalcy to the sector whether the issues are political as he has made the nation to believe or whether they are purely industrial. The threat of a total shut-down is present and immediate and deserves all the urgency and mobilization Mr President could muster. The developments in the Education sector are symptomatic of greater ills in the polity.”
“The strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), for instance is in its fourth month and has almost certainly disrupted an entire academic session with collateral consequences. Also the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has signaled its readiness to embark on a solidarity strike if government fails to resolve within two weeks the issues of contestation with ASUU. Most of these demands if not all, are not new, but are subsisting agreements which government is expected to honour. Some of these agreements border on salaries which government has agreed to pay but has elected to observe in the breach instead. For example the case with the Senior Staff Association of the Nigerian Universities, whose members are being owed for over three months.”
According to the statement “The avoidable strike action by ASUU has caused enough disruption or damage to the sector. The implications for the polity are grave and should be avoided, at least for the sake of our children. We also urge Mr President to discountenance the impression that the strike actions against his government are politically-motivated as nothing could be farther from the truth. Those who pursue this line of thinking are the ones who do not wish Mr President well. Rather than tell him the truth, they prefer to indulge in sycophancy, hypocrisy and boot-licking because it serves their personal motives.
“In order for Mr President to convince himself about the absence of any ulterior motive against his administration by any of the unions, especially ASUU which has come under accusation, we crave the indulgence of Mr President to insist on being availed the details of these agreements.
The Nigeria Labour Congress is not oblivious of the present challenges in the economy but it is convinced that with requisite discipline, will, prioritization and genuine dialogue, the government can reach a truce not just with the unions but could halt the decline in the economy.”

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NLC gives Ogun State govt. 7 days ultimatum to meet teacher's demands

The Ogun State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress has given the state government a seven-day ultimatum failing which to address the demands of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, will have the group to contend with. Speaking during a protest organized by teachers in the state, weekend, Chairman of the NLC, Akeem Ambali disclosed that, the NLC in the state was ready to act as an intermediary between the government and the Nigeria Union of Teachers. The state chapter of the NUT has joined eight other states in the ongoing indefinite strike to press for the implementation of the 27.5% Teachers’ Peculiar Allowance, TPA, vowing not to call its members to return to classrooms unless all its demands were met. Addressing the members of the NUT in the state during the rally, Ambali said, “we want to appeal to the government, we want to negotiate with the government for the next seven days, I know something positive will come out. But if that fails,we will not hesitate to continuously offer a purposeful leadership to the Nigeria Union of Teachers. “Teachers are not well fed. Our meagre allowance cannot take us home. We are open to negotiation, we don’t have closed minds. The government must be able to come up to know the recognized and legalized union of teachers. “Negotiation must be well documented. We are not sycophants; we are not being sponsored by government. “What are we fighting for? What is our government doing as regards democratic dividend? “The government has been seized by sycophants,that is the truth. “Governor Amosun is from us; he is one of us, no matter what happened in Oke-Mosan, he got to that through Labour. These were all the words of the chairman.

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