Chris Ngige, Minister of Labour and Employment on Wednesday give vivid account of ongoing efforts geared towards ensuring industrial harmony in the country.
The Minister specifically outlined why he and his counterparts brokered truce between various striking unions and Federal Ministries of Education and Health, which led to the suspension of industrial actions that paralysed key sectors of the economy.
According to him, the truce brokered with some unions affiliated with United Labour Congress (ULC) which is yet to be registered, became necessary in the bid to avoid total collapse of the economy.
Some of the affiliates of ULC are: National Association of Pilots Engineers (NAPE); Union of Electricity Workers (NUEE); National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG); National Association of Pilots, Engineers and Electronic Managers in the Airports (NAPE); National Union of Banks and Financial Institutions Workers (NUBIFIE), among others.
Briefing State House Correspondents after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja, explained that the present administration has no locus standing to deprive any organized unions from registering as federation of trade unions provided such organization meets the stipulated conditions in the Trade Union Act, 2004.
“You will also recall that the ULC, United Labour Congress, a proposed Labour federation that has applied for registration to government also decided to ask its affiliates to go on strike starting from Monday.
“The affiliates in question are sensitive affiliates because they control critical areas of our economy. The National Union of Electricity Workers (NUEE), the NUPENG, the National Association of Pilots, Engineers and Electronic Managers in the Airports (NAPE) and the National Union of Banks and Financial Institutions Workers which is NUBIFE.
“These are unions that affect the lives of everybody. If you don’t have electricity, if you don’t have petrol and diesel and kerosene and you don’t have access to money in your ATM in the banks, something serious could happen to one’s life so we decided to in the spirit of collective bargaining and social dialogue as enshrined in the ILO Convention engage them.
“The tripartite decision yielded fruit. We engaged them yesterday and this morning, we engaged them before Council and I am happy to announce that they have agreed to call off the strike with effect from today. So, we are getting the striking workers back to their beats.
“The underlying thing is that, the government has assured all of them that we have the welfare of our people at heart and for those of them who were angling for payment of arrears of salaries, shortfall of salaries, promotion arrears, leave allowances, benefits, government has shown good faith and has started paying.
“We hope to continue paying and the monies that are not paid this year will be captured in the 2018 Appropriation budget,” he explained.
The Minister, who denied describing ULC as an illegal union, argued that Federal Government cannot turn deaf ears to the agitations of all the affiliates of ULC who work in critical sectors of the economy.
“I am not sure I used the word illegal for ULC. ULC is the acronym and it means United Labour Congress and the promoters of that Congress intends it to be a labour centre of what we call in our labour law, labour federation. Labour Federation consists of affiliate unions, so many unions and then they coalesce and say we are gathered in this centre and this centre is fathering us.
“So, ULC as of today has not been registered and they have promoters and their promoters are in the labour circle, some of them are even Presidents of affiliate unions. You have very critical unions like I said sensitive unions whose functions are critical to the economy.
You have Nigeria Union of Electricity Workers, NUE, you have NUPENG, you have NUBIFE, you have NAPE, NAPE is National Association of Pilots Engineers. So, it is not a center that you can just afford to say that they are nothing.
“The ILO Convention to which we are even signatory to permits us to discuss with even associations that are not registered in government provided those associations have collection of workers.
“The Nigeria Labour law even gives the Minister of Labour and Employment the permission, the authority to discuss with a group of workers that have not even formed a union, provided that, what we are doing is what we call in labour parlance social dialogue for the benefits of these workers, for the benefit of the employers.
“So, the ULC has submitted their application for registration and have done the prescription in a prescribed form and we have replied them and told them that for their association to be registered as a labour centre, you have to do a, b, c, d and that your application is being processed.
“So, it is being processed and for the promoters, they know that it is a proposed Labour centre and the labour laws of the country make provision for labour centre. So, in that wise, I am discussing with them because they are workers, you can’t say that they are no longer workers.
“They are also recognized unions by our Labour laws. That is the basis we are discussing with them. Nobody has foreclosed their registration, once they meet the conditionalities as prescribed in the Trade Union Act 2004, Section 35 (1)b which gives the conditionalities for registration of a new labour centre, we will not hesitate to register them.
“This government will not stand on their way, we want to even open up the space anybody who meets up will be registered. Between January and now we have registered three new Labour unions. So, we don’t have any issues with them on that and we have explained that to them and they recognize that,” Ngige reiterated.
Also commenting on the conditions given by some of the unions before they called of the strike, he said: “The issue of ASUU giving us conditional suspension on their strike, yes not only ASUU even the National Association of Resident Doctors.
“This is because unlike before, the collective bargaining agreement I am doing midwifing as Labour Minister, I put timelines to enable government, ministries, department and agencies that are concerned to go and comply with their own section in the time lines.”
He noted that the Industrial Relations milieu in the country in recent times has been all about strike, adding that efforts were made through his office to get some of the contentious issues sorted out.
He said: “You will recall that over the last one months, we can brand the industrial relations milieu here as a milieu full of strikes. The strike started by the Academic Staff Union of Universities five weeks ago. Followed by that of the National Association of Resident Doctors and thereafter we had the Non Academic Staff Union, Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities and NAAT. All are university based trade unions.
“I am happy to announce that after intense and fruitful deliberations, National Association of Resident Doctors called off their strike about a week ago, followed by ASUU that called off their strike last Monday.
“Efforts are on to get NASU, SSANU AND NAAT which came under a Joint Action Committee called JAC of unions of universities to call off their strike today,” he opined.
KEHINDE AKINTOLA, Abuja
