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The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Council has directed teachers and other workers participating in its indefinite strike to defy the “No Work, No Pay” threat by FCT Minister Nyesom Wike and refuse to sign attendance registers opened by school administrators during the industrial action.
The council warned that any principal or head teacher who forces teachers to sign attendance registers or submits such records for punitive action would be held personally responsible and reported to the NLC for possible picketing.
The directive, issued on Sunday, followed an alleged instruction to school principals and head teachers to open attendance registers to monitor compliance with the strike declared by the NLC FCT Council.
Wike had last Friday directed area council chairmen to enforce the no-work, no-pay policy against striking workers, insisting that the indefinite strike declared by the FCT chapter of the NLC was politically motivated.
The minister urged council chairmen in Abuja to ensure that teachers and other civil servants returned to work.
He said the FCT Administration had no unresolved dispute with teachers, adding that issues raised by the unions had been agreed upon and were being implemented.
“This so-called strike declaration is political, and we will not accept it. There’s no basis for anybody to call for a strike. All the things they are talking about have been agreed and are being implemented,” Wike said.
However, the labour body described the minister’s threat as “unconstitutional, illegal, provocative, and unenforceable,” urging workers not to panic but to remain at home pending further directives from the council.
The NLC maintained that the strike was lawful and that the government could not invoke the no-work, no-pay principle to punish workers for embarking on industrial action arising from unresolved labour disputes.
The council said the dispute stemmed from what it described as violations of teachers’ rights by the Education Secretariat, including the imposition of a vacancy clause, the failure to conduct the 2025 promotion exercise, and the demotion of directors covered by the Harmonised Retirement Age for Teachers Act, 2022.
According to the council, the FCT Administration should address these grievances instead of threatening workers with salary deductions and other disciplinary measures.
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“An employer who creates the conditions for strike cannot profit from his own wrongdoing,” the NLC said, arguing that the government could not rely on the no-work, no-pay principle while allegedly failing to meet its obligations to workers.
The council cited Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution, the Trade Unions Act and International Labour Organisation Conventions 87, 98 and 151 in support of its position that workers have the right to embark on industrial action after fulfilling the required procedures.
It also argued that Section 43 of the Trade Disputes Act, which provides for the no-work, no-pay principle, should not be used to deny salaries to workers participating in what it described as a lawful industrial dispute.
The NLC further cited what it described as National Industrial Court judgments in SSANU v. Federal Government and NLC v. Federal Government, claiming that the decisions supported its position on the payment of salaries during legitimate industrial action.
It warned that any attempt to withhold workers’ salaries would be challenged through appropriate legal channels.
On the attendance registers, the council alleged that some school administrators had been directed to compel teachers to sign during the strike, warning that the exercise could be used to intimidate workers and undermine the collective action.
It therefore instructed all affected teachers and workers not to sign any attendance register opened during the indefinite strike, insisting that workers participating in an industrial dispute should not be treated as absent from duty.
The council urged workers to report any threats, queries, or acts of intimidation to the NLC FCT Council Secretariat, with supporting evidence.
It assured workers that the labour movement would defend their jobs and salaries and resist any attempt to victimise them, while urging them to remain law-abiding and await further instructions.
The NLC called on the FCT Administration to remove the vacancy clause, conduct the outstanding 2025 promotion exercise, and reinstate the affected directors, insisting that the grievances must be addressed rather than met with threats.
The statement, signed by the NLC FCT Council Chairman, Knabayi Adalo, called for solidarity among affected workers as the industrial dispute continued.
