The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Council, and the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), FCT Wing, have dismissed Minister Nyesom Wike’s threat to enforce the no-work, no-pay policy against striking workers.
Knabayi Adalo, chairman of the NLC FCT Council, and Margaret Jethro, secretary of the NUT FCT Wing, stated their positions in separate circulars to members on Sunday.
In the circulars made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday, they described the directive as “unconstitutional, illegal, provocative and unenforceable.”
Mr Wike, the FCT Minister, had on Friday directed area council chairpersons to enforce the no-work, no-pay policy against workers participating in the strike.
The directive followed the indefinite strike declared by the NLC on 7 October over unresolved issues between the FCT Administration and the NUT.
The minister also directed the FCT Head of Civil Service, principals and headteachers to open daily attendance registers to track absentees.
Reacting, Mr Adalo urged affected workers and teachers to remain steadfast and disregard threats of salary stoppage or attendance monitoring.
Reassuring workers across the FCT, he stressed that strike action remained a legitimate tool recognised under Nigerian law and international labour standards.
“Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution, the Trade Unions Act, and ILO Conventions 87, 98 and 151, all ratified by Nigeria, guarantee workers’ right to embark on strike after due process.
“The NLC FCT has fulfilled all legal conditions,” Mr Adalo stated.
Addressing the threat to withhold salaries, the labour chairman argued that the no-work, no-pay rule under Section 43 of the Trade Disputes Act applied only to illegal strikes.
He asserted that employers could not profit from their own wrongdoing when they created conditions necessitating industrial action.
According to him, the FCT Administration provoked the strike by violating teachers’ rights through the imposition of a vacancy clause on their promotions.
“Another issue is the demotion of directors who are legitimate beneficiaries of the Harmonised Retirement Age for Teachers Act, 2022,” he said.
Mr Adalo also cited previous judgments by the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, which he said supported workers’ entitlement to salaries in certain circumstances involving legitimate strikes.
He maintained that salaries could not lawfully be withheld when workers participated in a legitimate strike triggered by an employer’s breach of agreement.
Responding to reports that some school heads were forcing teachers to sign attendance registers, Mr Adalo directed union members to refuse to sign them.
He argued that attendance registers opened during a strike had no legal value and served only as a trap to divide workers.
“Participation in a union-declared strike is lawful industrial action, not absenteeism.
“Workers facing queries, threats or harassment are instructed to report immediately to the NLC FCT Council Secretariat with evidence,” he said.
Adalo warned that principals or headteachers who forced teachers to sign attendance registers or submitted lists for punitive action would be held personally responsible.
He added that such administrators would be targeted for picketing by the union.
He maintained that the FCT Administration should address the core grievances rather than resort to intimidation.
He demanded the immediate removal of the vacancy clause, the conduct of the 2025 promotion exercise and the full reinstatement of demoted directors.
“We assure all teachers and workers that the NLC will protect your jobs and salaries. No worker will be victimised,” Mr Adalo affirmed.
Ms Jethro also described the no-work, no-pay directive as illegal and an empty threat, urging teachers not to resume duties out of fear.
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“We must remain resolute. Do not chicken out; we must fight this battle together and now.
“We urge you not to panic, not to be intimidated and not to sign any attendance register. Shun the threat; the ongoing strike is legal and constitutionally guaranteed.
“Our demands are genuine and not political, as is being insinuated. We are asking for our welfare, not for power,” she said.
The secretary thanked teachers for complying with the strike in the interest of their welfare, despite what she described as a “betrayal” by the Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS).
She accused the union of betraying teachers by withdrawing from the strike.
“We urge you to remain peaceful and law-abiding while you stay at home,” she said.
(NAN)
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