WORKERS of the Federal Capital Territory Authority (FCTA) and Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) have suspended their two-week old strike, following an agreement reached with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, and the organised labour early on Tuesday, February 3, to call off the ongoing industrial action and immediately resume work.
The truce was reached after over three hours of negotiations in the early hours of Tuesday, was led by Chairman of the Senate Committee on the FCT, Mohammed Bomoi, with leaders of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) in attendance.
Briefing journalists later, NLC’s Acting General Secretary, Benson Upah, along with TUC General Secretary, Nuhu Toro, said several resolutions were reached to restore industrial peace, including assurances that no worker would be victimised for participating in the strike, immediate withdrawal of all cases instituted at the National Industrial Court (NIC) and a commitment by the minister to maintain mutual respect and sustained dialogue with organised labour.
According to him: “All complaints presented by members of the Joint Unions Action Committee (JUAC) were taken one after the other and fully addressed.”
Upah added that Wike assured the organised labour of continuous engagement, going forward; hence workers under the JUAC and affiliates of the NLC and TUC within the FCTA were directed to return to work with immediate effect, adding: “All affiliates are enjoined to comply strictly with this directive in the interest of industrial peace and harmony and in good faith.”
The dispute arose from unresolved labour issues within the FCTA, prompting the NLC and TUC to join the industrial action, with the threat of mass protests, ignoring warnings by the FCT Police Command over security concerns and a court order restraining the action.
The National Inductrial Court (NIC) in Abuja had earlier restrained NLC and Trade Union Congress from embarking on a protest scheduled for Tuesday.
Justice Emmanuel Subilim gave the ruling on Monday, February 2, following an ex parte application filed by Wike and the FCTA, in the case with NLC; TUC; Upah; Toro, Stephen Knabayi; Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun; FCT Commissioner of Police; Department of State Services (DSS) and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) as defendants.
The minister had asked the court to restrain the first to fifth defendants from embarking on any protest or strike against the FCTA, claiming to be “apprehensive of the breakdown of law and order, obstruction of vehicular movement and violation of the rights of the residents of the FCT, particularly those in the private sector and other government establishments, which include other states of the Federation, expatriates and tourists; hence the resort to court action.”
The added that despite the subsisting order of a competent court, the 1st-5th Defendants had perfected plans and were instigating the employees of the 2nd Claimant (FCTA) to disobey the valid order of court and embark on protest and demonstration in the FCT against the Claimants.
They stated that unless the court intervened, the 1st-5th Defendants, together with other members of the JUAC, comprising all the employees of the 2nd Claimant/Applicant (FCTA), will carry out their threats of embarking on protest, demonstration and industrial action, thereby crippling the operations of the Claimants/Applicants, as well as the economy, and causing a breach of the peace and obstructing the flow of vehicular movement in the capital city, Abuja
The claimants noted that it was in the interest of justice for the court to restrain the 1st to 5th Defendants to preserve the industrial peace and further aid the continuous provision of essential services to the Nigerian public, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.
Wike’s Counsel, Ogwu Onoja, told the court that the planned protest was a violation of its earlier order.
Recall that on Sunday, February 1, NLC and TUC, had in a statement, asked their members to prepare for a “solidarity rally” to the office of the FCDA in support of the JUAC.
FCTA worker commenced an indefinite strike on January 19, following what they termed “authorities’ failure to address long-standing labour and welfare demands,” leading shutdown of activities across secretariats, departments and agencies of the FCTA and FCDA, prompting the minister to sue the JUAC.
The NIC, on January 27, ordered the workers to suspend the strike, saying although the matter before it amounted to a trade dispute, the defendants’ right to embark on industrial action was not absolute.
Justice Subilim stated that once a dispute has been referred to the NIC, any ongoing strike must cease, pending the determination of the case.
This prompted the office of the head of civil service in the FCTA, on January 27, to direct all workers across its secretariats, departments and agencies to immediately resume duties.
NLC, however, asked its affiliated members to continue their strike action.
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