NLC plans strike over Kaduna workers sacking

The Nigeria Labour Congress says it will withdraw services from both public and private organisations in Kaduna State for five days to protest mass sacking of workers by the state government.

The decision to withdraw the services of workers was taken by the Central Working Committee (CWC) of the NLC at a meeting in Abuja on Thursday.

President of the NLC, Ayuba Wabba, said the five-day withdrawal of service by workers in the state will become total if there is no remorse from the state government.

He condemned the decision of Governor Nasir el-Rufai to sack close to 4,000 workers who are mostly from the 23 local government areas in the state.

Wabba said: “CWC has decided and has also recommended to the National Executive Council, that labour will withdraw all services from either public or private. This means all services for all sectors of the economy for five days in the first instance and where there is no remorse, it is going to be a total action.

“We thought that workers should not be allowed to die in silence because thousands of them that have been sacked have not been paid in line with the provisions of the law.

“More worrisome is the policy targeted at workers that have spent more than 30 years in service or some more than 20 years in service.

“In fact, the policy said that once you are up to 50 years in service, you will be disengaged and be sent off without any entitlement.

Wabba noted that the governor violated all the known laws that regulate labour and industrial relation in Nigeria.

He stated that some teachers disengaged by the state government were yet to receive their entitlements till date.

He added, “The entire working class in Nigeria has condemned the sack of thousands of workers in Kaduna. The CWC condemns the conversion of workers to casuals by the Kaduna State government under the pretext of paucity of funds or drop in revenue.”