Nigerians may not have heard the last in the crisis between Organised Labour and the Federal Government if latest development reaching our news desk is anything to go by. Latest report indicates that Organised Labour is accusing the Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong, of breaching part of the terms of agreeÂment that culminated in the suspension of its nationwide strike.
Against this backdrop it has warned the Federal Government to either honour the essence of the agreeÂment or face national industrial crisis.
General Secretary of the NLC, ComÂrade Emmanuel Ugboaja, raised the allegations on Thursday in Abuja in a statement to newsÂmen.
He particularly accused Lalong of taking sides with a factional union of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW).
Ugboaja said, “In a shocking turn of events, the Federal Minister of Labour, Mr. Lalong, has thrown a spanner in the wheel of the impleÂmentation of the Labour – FederÂal Government agreement by his unmasked partiality in handling a critical item in the agreement which is the apparent governÂment meddling in trade union matters by siding with people, who had illegally seized the NaÂtional Union of Road Transport Workers’ (NURTW) headquarÂters with police support.
On its part the NLC said “it is unÂfathomable that a Minister of Labour, tasked with safeguarding the rights and interests of diverse stakeholders in our industrial relations landscape, would opt to take actions that could underÂmine the very foundations of our collective engagement. “
He described Lalong’s action as clearly morally reprehensible and legally untenable, saying it marks a disheartening departure from the expected standards of conduct within the nation’s inÂdustrial relations sphere.
Despite initial assurances from the minister regarding the illegal occupation of the NURTW’s national headquarters, the democratically elected leadÂership, led by Comrade Tajudeen Baruwa, has not been reinstated. Instead, the minister has chosen to endorse and legitimise this hiÂjacking with the state’s backing.
“It is now abundantly clear that the Federal Government never negotiated in good faith and, consequently, was never genuinely committed to honoring the terms of the October 2, 2023 agreement. This serves to affirm our earlier apprehension that the state was maneuvering to orÂchestrate a coup d’état against the democratically elected NURTW leadership, potentially alluding to the support of the government, as suggested by Minister Lalong’s actions and statements.
Obviously pained by the unÂfolding events, the NLC scribe said the NURTW leadership criÂsis was engineered by the Federal Government through the police, aiding the Lagos group, who were members of the Lands, Parks and Garages Commission in Lagos State, not the NURTW, to forcefully occupy the union’s headquarters in Abuja.
According to the NLC, ComÂrade Tajudeen Baruwa’s leaderÂship was democratically elected, adhering to union statutes, the naÂtional laws and ILO Conventions.
He went further to disclose that the election process began in May 2023 at the zonal levels, culminating in the National DelÂegates’ Conference of August, 2023 that inaugurated the current leadership of Comrade Baruwa in August 2023.
