The Organised Private Sector (OPS) threatened to enforce the ‘no work no pay’ principle for staff who do not appear at their workplaces during the industrial action ordered by organised labour.
Director General of the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, who is currently in Geneva at a conference organised by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), said private employers align their position with the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) that the strike is illegal.
“There are procedures to follow, and we will not support any arbitrariness. Nigeria is a sovereign state with rules that guide everyone. We will support appropriateness and align with it in the context of the rule of law. Even though we are social partners, it is guided by the rule of law, and that is what we will align with. Section 43 of the Trade Union Act explicitly states, ‘no work no pay’, and we will enforce it to the letter,” he said.
NLC President, Joe Ajaero, and his TUC counterpart, Festus Osifo, had, after the last meeting with the tripartite committee on May 31, lamented the Federal Government’s lack of commitment to a successful national minimum wage negotiation exercise.
They maintained that since the national minimum wage negotiation exercise has not been concluded and the agreed wage passed into law, the hike in electricity tariff has not been reversed, and the categorisation of consumers into Bands has not stopped as demanded, they would embark on the strike to press home their demands. They also lamented that the hike in electricity tariff has further impoverished the people and denied them the right to decent living.
Up till today, circulars continued to emerge from affiliate unions, including the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and workers in the aviation sector, comprising the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP) and National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), directing members across the nation to ensure full compliance with the NLC and TUC directive.
