The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has faulted a statement credited to the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige over his outlaw of warning strike and threat to invoke ‘no work no pay’.
Ngige had vowed that any government worker that embarked on indefinite strike would not be paid.
In a statement signed by the General Secretary, NLC, Comrade Dr Peter Ozo-Eson, the NLC said it was shocked by the minister’s comment.
Ozo-Eson said, “Our attention has been drawn to the threat by the Honourable Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige to outlaw warning strike and to invoke the clause of “no work no pay” in the event of the use of warning strike in the future as according to him, warning strike is not known to Labour Laws.
“We are taken aback by the claims of the Honourable Minister.”
“Accordingly, we find it necessary to state that whether warning strike is in the corpus of the Nigerian Labour Laws or not, unions over the years across all climes use warning strike as a bargaining device to bring to the negotiating table, recalcitrant employers or social partners,” the union stated.
“Why then would the Honorable Minister be canvassing a position that is at once extreme and intolerant of further dialogue which is the mainstay of Labour-Government relations!
“We find it necessary to caution that a hasty resort to legalese as a basis for conflict resolution will not be helpful.
“However, the truth of the matter is that if strikes are guaranteed by the law, we do not see how warning strikes can be illegal. We do not intend to resort to unnecessary pedantism, but quite often, a literal interpretation of the law falls short of the intendment of the law”, he added.
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