• No going back, union vows
From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
The National Industrial Court (NIC) in Owerri has issued an extended interim injunction restraining the organised Labour from embarking on any kind of strike in Imo State.
Both the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) were further ordered not to embark on OCCUPY IMO, as planned, until the next adjourned date.
The court warned against the disobedience of its order, saying it would attract consequences.
Justice N. C. S. Ogbuanya gave the order after hearing the submissions of the Attorney General of Imo State, C. O. C. Akaolisa, who prayed the court to grant an extended interim order against the defendants in view of their fresh threat to embark on strike through Occupy Imo.
The defendants are the NLC and its secretary General, Emmanuel Ugboaja and the TUC and its secretary General, Nuhu Toro.
In the suit No NICN/ OW/41/2023, in which the Attorney General of Imo State and the Imo State Government are claimants/applicants, they prayed that since there is a subsisting order restraining the defendants from going on strike, the order should be extended.
Their argument was hinged on an affidavit by which the first defendant(NLC) by a letter dated 16th October, 2023 is currently mobilising its members from the South East and South South for a strike to occupy Imo from November 01,2023.
After hearing from both counsels in the suit, the court granted the order of extended interim injunction restraining the defendants from embarking on any strike in whatever guise.
“The Order of INTERIM INJUNCTION earlier granted against the defendants is hereby extended till the next adjourned date,” the court declared.
“Parties are hereby directed to be mindful of consequences of disobedience of extant court ordering the pending suit “, it further ordered.
The Court adjourned the matter to November 3 for either hearing or report of settlement.
Regardless, NLC has announced it would stage a large-scale protest and industrial action in the state starting on November 1, in response to the government’s repeated violations and abuses of the rights and privileges of its workforce.
NLC declared this in a statement by its President, Ajaero, yesterday.
It claimed in spite of the union’s continuous attempts to have productive talks and come to friendly agreements, the Imo government had turned into a routine violator of the accords, persistently infringing on the rights of workers in the state.
“As a result, we are left with no choice but to embark on mass protests and industrial actions beginning on November 1, 2023 to demonstrate our outrage and stop the continuing violation of the rights and privileges of workers in the state,” NLC stated.
The labour centre listed some of the agreements between the NLC and the Imo State government that have not yet been put into effect, to include, unjust declaration of approximately 11,000 work force as ghost workers, the vandalisation of the NLC state Secretariat; and the non-payment of outstanding salary arrears, some of which span over 20 months:
Additionally, it accused the administration of refusing to comply with the national minimum wage, paying eight-year backlog of gratuities owed to retirees, and addressing the issue of discriminatory pay in the state:
Others are: misappropriation of union dues; intimidation and harassment of trade union leaders; persistent use of thugs and violence against workers and their leaders; and resistance to social dialogue and collective bargaining, among other things.
The congress, therefore, called on all stakeholders, including civil society organisations, to stand in solidarity with the workers of Imo State in the face of the egregious violations.
“We implore the Imo State government to honour its obligations and recommit to respecting the rights and privileges of workers. As long as it refuses, we will continue in this course of action until we see the desired change. We are ready for industrial peace in the state but the choice is entirely in the hands of the government of Imo State,” NLC said.