The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has given the Federal Government a four-week ultimatum to conclude all ongoing negotiations with unions in the country’s tertiary education sector.
NLC President, Joe Ajaero, issued the ultimatum on Monday during an interactive session with labour correspondents in Abuja, following a meeting with leaders of unions based in tertiary institutions at the Congress headquarters.
Ajaero also criticised the government’s enforcement of the “no work, no pay” policy on members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), describing it as punitive and counterproductive.
“We have decided to give the Federal Government four weeks to conclude all negotiations in this sector. They have started talks with ASUU, but the issues go beyond just ASUU,” Ajaero said.
He warned that failure to resolve the disputes within the stipulated time would lead to nationwide industrial action involving all unions affiliated with the NLC.
“If after four weeks this negotiation is not concluded, the organs of the National Executive Council (NEC) will meet and take a nationwide action that will involve all workers and all unions. We want to get to the root of this,” he declared.
Ajaero further condemned the government’s handling of labour disputes, warning that the era of failed agreements and threats to unions was over.
“The so-called policy of ‘no work, no pay’ will henceforth be met with ‘no pay, no work.’ You can’t benefit from a crisis you created. We have discovered that 90% of strike actions in this country are caused by the government’s failure to honour agreements,” he added.
