Nationwide strike: Presidency knocks labour unions
- Labour unions in Nigeria have been knocked for incessant strike actions
- The backlash was given by Lauretta Onochie, a presidential media aide
- Onochie said that in other countries like the UK, unions go on strike with definite dates to call them off
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The presidency has expressed its misgivings over the spate of strike actions embarked upon by many unions in the country as a form of protest to the federal government's policies.
A senior special assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on new media, Lauretta Onochie, claimed that labour unions in the country mobilise their workers to go on strike and expect the government to pay salaries.
Onochie said that what is to be rejected is that unlike in other countries such as the United Kingdom (UK), unions in Nigeria propose strike without informing their workers how long it will work.
Source: UGC
She alleged that the unions make use of the dues paid by their members and expect the government to pay striking workers.
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The presidential media aide claimed:
"In the UK, if a Union calls for a protest, it tells its members how many days they will be protesting and how many of those days the union will pay the striking workers. It's not compulsory.
"In Nigeria, union pockets union dues. Forces people to strike and govt pays them. Na so!"
Meanwhile, in apparent move to prevent the planned strike, the federal government had scheduled a meeting with the Nigeria Labour Congress(NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) for 7pm on Sunday, September 27.
This was disclosed by deputy director, press and public relations, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Charles Akpan.
Earlier, the last-minute efforts carried out by Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila of the House of Representatives to halt a planned strike by the organised labour might have failed to yield any positive result.
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Source: Legit.ng