BREAKING NEWS:- Labour halts plan Strike!!

 Reporters
Leaders of the nation’s labour
movement, midnight, called off
the three day warning strike they
earlier declared to protest the
reluctance of the Federal and
state governments to pay the
new minimum wage.

The strike was called off in
Abuja after marathon meetings
between  labour leaders on one
hand and  delegations of the
Federal Government  and the
Governors Forum on the other
hand. At the end of the six hour
meeting between the leaders of
the Nigeria Labour congress, NLC
and  Trade Union Congress
(TUC) one side and the
Governors Forum on the other,
the labour leaders headed for
the Office of the Secretary to
the Government of the
Federation (SGF) for another
round of negotiation which
lasted for over three hours.
 Governor Adams Oshiomhole
of  Edo  State played the role of
a mediator in breaking the
deadlock between the Federal
Government  and Governors
Forum on one hand and the
nation’s  labour movement.
After  the marathon meeting
between labour leaders and the
Governors Forum, the state chief
executives, apparently mandated
Governor Oshiomhole, who was
the immediate past President of
the NLC  to accompany the
labour leaders foranother
meeting with the Federal
Government delegation  led by
the Secretary to the Government
of the  Federation, Senator
Anyim Pius Anyim.
Although the meeting held
behind closed doors, it was
gathered that the Minister of
Labour Chief Chukwuemeka
Wogu was also present with the
Director General of the National
Wages and Salaries Commission,
Chief Richard Egbule.
 Earlier, at the meeting held on
Monday,  Emeka Wogu had in
his remarks,  indicated that the
Federal Government’s position
had hardly shifted from what it
was last week.   He repeated the
justification the Government’s
delegation had earlier given for
its stance on the dispute over
the National Minimum Wage.
 He maintained that what was
budgeted for in the current
financial year was fund  for
payment of  public servants in
categories one to six.  He pointed
out that the major challenge
for government is funding the
payment of the new minimum
wage across board.
His position was reiterated  by
the SGF who
appealed to the labour leaders
to call off  the nationwide strike.
Senator Anyim further urged
the labour leaders to accept the
implementation of the new
minimum wage for workers on
levels 1 to 6  in the public service
since this was what was
budgeted for in the 2011
Appropriation Act of the
National Assembly.
He pledged that the Federal
Government had agreed to
implement the salary review for
workers on levels 7 to 17 by
next  January.
He further explained that the
Federal Government’s earlier
interpretation of the Minimum
Wage Act was strict in the sense
that it was fashioned to ensure
that no Nigerian worker should
receive less that N18,000 as his
monthly wage, whereas, the
labour movement’s
interpretation was that the law
should apply across board.
 Below is a report on the
state of preparedness for
the strike, ( across the
country)  before it
was called off
Twenty four hours to the
commencement of strike , panic
and apprehension reigned
supreme in the polity, yesterday.
Across the 36 states of the
federation, the citizenry took
measures that would alleviate
expected harsh impact of the
industrial action.
While some made panic buying
of food, edible and household
items including fuel and
kerosene, others invaded banks,
to withdraw funds. This was as
some state governments, private
organisations and others tried
dissuading their staff from
joining the strike.
The strike action is expected to
commence effectively 12
midnight should the government
and labour fail to reach an
agreement.
Panic buying of petrol hit
Port-Harcourt
In Port Harcourt and other parts
of Rivers State, hundreds of
motorists embarked on panic
buying of petrol.
Also, some private businesses
placed notices in their premises
tasking members of staff not to
go on strike, failing which they
might be thrown out of their
employments. However, some
traders in Mile 1 Market
(Rumuwoji Market).
Ibadan: Some workers begin
strike a day earlier
As a measure of their resolve to
press home their minimum wage
demands, a section of the
workers under the Joint
Negotiation Council, began an
indefinite strike in Ibadan
yesterday, a day earlier than
today’s kick-off.
Oyo State Chairman of the
Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC,
Alhaji Bashir Olanrewaju, said
workers in the state were fully
prepared for the strike that
would commence today.
No going back on strike in
Ebonyi
The Ebonyi State council of the
NLC and Trade Union Congress
of Nigeria, TUC, yesterday gave a
standing order mandating the
entire workers of the state to
proceed on a three-day warning
strike from today.
The unions noted that the
instruction was in consonance
with the decision reached by the
national secretariats of both NLC
and TUC, consequent upon the
non-implementation of the new
minimum wage by the federal,
state and local government s in
the country.
Parliamentary workers
ordered to stay at home
Ahead of the strike,
parliamentary workers
nationwide have been ordered
to stay at home by the
Parliamentary Staff Association
of Nigeria (PASAN) National
Assembly Chapter.
MINIMUM WAGE TALKS—L-R:
National President Nigeria
Labour Congress (NLC),
Comrade Abdulwaheed Umar;
Minister of Labour and
Productivity, Chief Emeka
Wogu; Secretary to the
Government of the Federation
(SGF) Sen. Anyim Pius Anyim
and Chairman Nigeria
Governors Forum Gov, Rótimi
Amaechi during the Federal
Government delegation
meeting with Nigeria Labour
Congress and Trade Union
Congress (TUC) over new
Minimum Wage in
Abuja,Monday. Photo :
Gbemiga Olamikan.
In a letter by Publicity Secretary,
Comrade Elijah Ter Vanger,
PASAN asked “all comrades to
participate fully in the three-day
warning strike, a notice of which
has been sent to management.”
PASAN also urged the speedy
implementation of the
Consolidated Legislative Salary
Structure (CONCESS) for
parliamentary workers agreed to
with the National Assembly
Service Commission (NASC) in
May.
“While we reassure all comrades
of our total commitment to the
urgent and full implementation
of CONCESS, we will continue to
impress on the National
Assembly Service Commission
(NASC) and leadership of the
National Assembly to keep faith
with the agreement of May 24,
2011 signed by all the
stakeholders to sustain the
industrial harmony in our work
place” the letter read.
Lagos directs workers to
shun strike
For being the first state to begin
the implementation of the
N18,000 minimum wage, Lagos
State Government has directed
its workers not to partake in the
three-day warning strike.
In a circular issued by the state
government and signed by the
Head of Service, Mr. Adesegun
Ogunlewe, the government said
the strike was unnecessary since
the state government had
already complied with the
provisions of the National
Minimum Wage Act 2011. It
urged its workers to use the
period to rededicate themselves
and contribute meaningfully to
the actualization of the mission
and vision of the Governor
Babatunde Fashola-led
administration.
Workers battle-ready in
Owerri
The leadership of the NLC, Imo
State Council, said yesterday that
it had sensitised all its affiliated
unions to fully respect the
directive from the NLC National
Headquarters on the nationwide
warning strike.
Already, directives have been
passed to all public servants in
the state to stay away from their
offices until otherwise directed
by labour.
Scores of customers were
spotted in all the banking halls
visited by Vanguard yesterday
afternoon as they made spirited
attempts to withdraw money
from their accounts, for the
upkeep of their families.
Panic buying in Yenagoa
Residents of Yenagoa, the
Bayelsa State capital were
yesterday locked in panic buying
ahead of the three warning
strike.
Already the Comrade Ebiuwou
Koku-Obiyai-led state chapter of
the NLC, yesterday directed its
members to stay away from their
duty posts in deference to its
national secretariat’s directive.
NLC, TUC sensitise workers in
Ekiti
NLC and TUC leaders in Ekiti
State have directed their
members to stay off their duty
posts today. At separate press
briefings in Ado Ekiti yesterday,
NLC and TUC chairmen,
Comrades Ayodeji Aluko and
Olaiya Kolawole, said they had
no option than to abide with the
directive of their national
headquarters.
They  declared that the state
government had no option than
to pay the N18,000 minimum
wage to the workers in their
respective states, adding that
Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode
Fayemi was part of the
governors that met and  signed
the agreement on minimum
wage.
Edo workers poised for
action
Relatedly, the leadership of the
two unions issued the same
directive in Benin.
In a joint statement by Comrade
Emma Ademokun (NLC
Chairman) and Joe Aligbe (TUC),
the unions directed all workers
in the state to commence the
warning strike today. They raised
a 10-man team led by Comrade
B.S Kadiri, Vice-Chairman (NLC)
to monitor the industrial action.
They however noted that the
strike action was without
prejudice to the Edo State
Government, which they said, “in
its wisdom approved the
implementation of the minimum
wage to Edo State workers to
which we are grateful.”
Meanwhile, the State chapters of
the NLC, TUC and the Joint
Negotiating Council have absolve
themselves from the alleged
collaboration with the State
government to exclude some
sections of the State civil service
from the newly approved
minimum wage bill.
Governor Adams Oshiomhole
had on July 11, 2011, signed an
agreement with the trade union
leaders the implementation of
N18, 000. 34 minimum wages for
the State civil servants with
effect from June 2011.
He pointed out that Nigerian
Union of Teachers and the
Judiciary Workers Council were
not captured in the new
minimum wage agreement and
however, said that they were
free to send their leaders to
negotiate with the government.
Against this backdrop, teachers
in the state gave a seven-day
ultimatum to the State
government to include them or
face an indefinite strike action.

---

Posted: at 20-07-2011 02:32 AM (12 years ago) | Hero

Dis post too long.

Posted: at 20-07-2011 08:54 AM (12 years ago) | Addicted Hero

na for you to get the whole koko.

Posted: at 20-07-2011 11:48 AM (12 years ago) | Newbie

A flash in the pan..........many people that had planned staying at home today were disappointed.......you needed to see fuel stations yesterday, a lot of people were busy buying fuel to last them 3 days, long queues of vehicle.......but they got a 'July fool'........the roads were free today, an indication a lot of people got the information late and some might have traveled out of town before the calling off..........

---

Posted: at 20-07-2011 12:26 PM (12 years ago) | Hero

read small and give others to read

Posted: at 20-07-2011 11:23 PM (12 years ago) | Hero

for what reason? my eye glass is not with me

Posted: at 24-07-2011 01:04 AM (12 years ago) | Hero

i see! i will try

Posted: at 24-07-2011 11:00 PM (12 years ago) | Hero

only 2 kiss? give me more because i like kiss well well

Posted: at 28-07-2011 02:05 AM (12 years ago) | Hero

thanks but add more to that

Posted: at 11-08-2011 01:00 PM (12 years ago) | Hero