The federal government on Wednesday in Abuja took a
major step towards halting incessant strike by members of the Nigeria Labour
Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and other labour bodies by resolving
to henceforth apply 'no work, no pay rule.'
Briefing journalists at the end of the weekly
Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in the State House, the Minister of
Labour, Employment and Productivity, Dr. Chris Ngige, said the decision was in
compliance with Section 43 of Labour Act which he said the National Industrial
Court (NIC) had earlier upheld.
Ngige added that the decisions were contained in a
draft White Paper submitted by a 10-man committee that he chaired which he said
was constituted in 2017 to come up with a White Paper on an earlier technical
committee report meant to stem the tide of industrial disputes.
He said following the approval of the White Paper,
the council ordered that the White Paper should be gazetted.
According to him, whenever workers are on strike,
they are not entitled to salaries as long as the industrial action lasts,
recalling that the committee which recommended the implementation had been
constituted by the federal government to put under control the degree of
incessant industrial conflicts between the workforce and the federal government
or employers.
He also said the White Paper as approved by the
council in accordance with another sub-section of the same Section 43 of Labour
Act which prohibits locking out workers without following due process.
The minister said following the approval, the
federal government would take action against any employer who locks out his
workers by ensuring that every due benefit for such workers during the period
of the lock-out is paid to them.
"These contentious areas are the enforcement
of Section 43 of the Trade Dispute Act Law of the Federation 2004. This is the
section that deals with lock-out of workers by their employers without
declaring redundancy appropriately because the same establishment, especially in
the private sector, workers are locked out by their employers.
"So the law that says if you lock out your
workers without passing through the normal channel-due process for the period
of the lock-out-the worker is assumed to be at work and will receive all
remunerations and allowances and benefits accruing to him for the period and
that period will also be counted to him as a pensionable period in computation
of his pension.
"But when workers go on strike, the principle
of 'no work, no pay' will also be applied because that principle is enshrined
in that same Section 43 of the Labour Act. That section says for the period a
worker withdraws his services, government or his employers are not entitled to
pay and the period for which they were absent will not count as part of his
pensionable period in the public service.
"So the council accepted it as a White Paper
recommendation that should be gazetted because even the National Industrial
Court has made pronouncement on that law clearly," Ngige said.
The minister also said the White Paper banned the
idea of government employees leaving their primary jobs to serve full time in
labour unions and remain there for life forgetting that they were first
employed as public officers.
According to him, the White Paper will checkmate
this trend henceforth, ensuring that trade unions submit their constitutions to
the government which he said must spell out term limits for labour leaders that
must not exceed two terms.
He said: "Another area is that of public
servants remaining permanently in the executive bodies of trade unions. “Government
realises that some persons in the public service go into trade union executive
positions, hold offices for life as long as they are in the service. And in
doing so, they will refuse postings and redeployment under the guise that they
are doing trade union activities. Government says no.
"You have to be a public servant first before
you become a trade unionist. Therefore, if you are there, the public service
rules should also be applied to you and in doing so, government says
establishments will look at issues and give it a human face in order not to
disrupt trade unionism and in furtherance to this, government has also said
there must be tenure stipulations because people stay there without tenures.
"Many organisations give people union
positions without tenure. Now government has said there is no office that
doesn't have tenure. Trade unions now should give us their constitution that
must have tenures at least maximum of two tenures for any elective
position."
Ngige who also said the White Paper had fixed seven
years of training for resident doctors, noted that the matter had become
contentious, pointing out that some medical doctors go for resident training
only to join professional bodies and become permanent unionists in contrast to
the rule.
He said in a bid to put paid to this, seven years
had been fixed for resident training and any medical doctor who fails to pass
his examinations within the period must quit the programme forthwith.
"The next point is the issue of resident
training for medical doctors. The medical training for resident doctors has
been contentious. Some medical doctors come into the training and become
professional unionists and stay there as permanent job.
"The residency training is actually not a
permanent job, as such, it is a conveyor built arrangements by which you stay
and drop off and another set of people come in. So, government has fixed a
tenure for resident training. Seven years within which you can pass all your
examinations. If you don't pass all your examinations after seven years, you
quit," Ngige said.
He also said the White Paper seeks to end
situations where after collective bargaining, one group begins to circulate
fake information that was not contained in the resolution reached at the
meeting.
The Labour minister said in its bid to put paid to
this misdemeanor, "government therefore says all collective agreements
must be authenticated by the rightful authorities and domiciled with the Federal
Ministry of Labour and Employment."
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