Ajaero's faction, FG set up committee on price,
minimum wage
ABUJA — The National Industrial Court, NIC, sitting
in Abuja, yesterday, stopped the Nigerian Labour
Congress, NLC, and the Trade Unions Congress,
TUC, from embarking on strike today.
This came as Organised Labour and its civil society
allies, yesterday, vowed to go ahead with the
planned indefinite strike from today to make
government reverse the N145 per litre pump price
of petrol, despite the restraining order by the court.
Meanwhile, Senate,
yesterday, threw its
weight behind President
Muhammadu Buhari’s
hike in the price of fuel
to N145 per litre from
N86.50
Organised Labour’s
position came on a day
president of a faction of
the Nigeria Labour
Congress, NLC, Mr. Joe
Ajaero, said Nigeria
Union of Petroleum and
Natural Gas Workers,
NUPENG, Petroleum
and Natural Gas Senior
Staff Association of
Nigeria, PENGASSAN,
National Union of
Electricity Employees, NUEE, and others would not
join the strike.



EDO YOUTHS CONGRESS PROTESTING HIKE IN
PUMP PRICE OF PETROL IN BENIN-CITY ON
TUESDAY (NAN)

Consequently, the Wabba faction and the Federal
Government, yesterday, agreed to set up a joint
technical committee to review the new fuel pump
price template of N135-N145 within the next two
weeks and also work towards reviewing the current
national minimum wage of N18, 000.


President of the National Industrial Court, NIC,
Justice Babatunde Adejumo, in a ruling, yesterday,
restrained the labour unions from going on strike,
pending the determination of a suit the federal
government lodged before it.


Justice Adejumo further ordered all the parties to
maintain status quo until the legal dispute was
settled.
The order followed an ex-parte application filed by
the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister
of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN.


Determined to abort the planned strike action, the
AGF approached the NIC, begging it to restrain the
labour unions from “shutting down the nation”.
Relying on Section 14 of the 1999 Constitution, as
amended, the Federal Government insisted that it
would not be “in the national interest” for the NLC
and TUC to proceed on nationwide strike over the
fuel price increase.


Malami argued that no amount of damages could
serve as compensation, if the labour unions were
allowed to shut down the economy.


Contending that the balance of convenience was in
favour of the government, the AGF prayed the court
to determine “whether the respondents (NLC, TUC)
have complied with the laid-down condition
precedent for embarking on strike."


The AGF also prayed the court to determine
"whether, indeed, there exists in law and, in fact, the
basis of which the respondents’ total closure of the
economy can be justified”.


He told the court that the respondents met on
Saturday and issued a communique wherein they
gave government a three-day ultimatum to reverse
the decision increasing fuel price.


He said the respondents, aside from threatening to
shut down the country, if government failed to
reverse the fuel price increase, also threatened to
close down all government offices, seaports,
airports and markets.
The AGF argued that ordinary and law-abiding
citizens would be subjected to hardship, if the
respondents were allowed to go ahead with their
threat.


He said the government was left with no alternative
but to seek the intervention of the court.


Besides, Malami told the court that he got notice of
the communique on Sunday and quickly filed an
originating summons, a motion on notice and an
ex-parte application to determine whether NLC’s
decision was justified in the circumstance

He insisted that “great and irreparable damage”
would be done against the nation and “ordinary and
law-abiding citizens”, should the court refuse the
ex-parte application.


Though neither NLC nor TUC was represented in
court, Justice Adejumo granted the ex-parte motion,
even as he ordered the service of all the relevant
court processes on the respondents.
The restraining order against the respondents will
lapse after seven days.


However, Organised Labour and its civil society
allies, incensed by government’s decision to seek
rederess at the NIC in the midst of a negotiation,
yesterday, vowed to go ahead with the planned
indefinite strike from today to make government
reverse the N145 per litre pump price of petrol.
Senate backs fuel price hike


The Senate, while sympathizing with Nigerians over
the hardship caused by the increase in the price of
petrol, however, urged government to urgently begin
implementation of palliatives contained in the 2016
Appropriation Act passed by the National Assembly
in the overall interest of Nigerians.


The Senate also asked Buhari’s government not to
relent in its continued dialogue with organised
labour and other stakeholders as a way of resolving
issues around the increase to avoid grounding the
system as well as impose more hardship on the
people.
Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike
Ekweremadu, who presided over yesterday’s
plenary, said:

“The Senate in a closed session
deliberated on the increase in the pump price of
PMS by the Federal Government and the threats by
Organised Labour to embark on a nationwide strike
over the matter and resolved as follows: “That we
sympathise with ordinary people of Nigeria on the
hardships they are going through.

"The Senate will engage the Federal Government to
find sustainable ways of improving the welfare of
the people of Nigeria.


“That we call on government to continue to engage
organised labour and other stakeholders to resolve
issues in order not to ground the system and
impose more hardships on our people.


“That government should immediately start to
implement palliatives or palliative measures
contained in the 2016 appropriation act passed by
the National Assembly.”

It's black market injunction —Wabba's NLC, TUC
Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, faction, led by
Ayuba Wabba, alongside TUC, and Joint Action
Front, JAF, at separate meetings in Abuja and
Lagos, described the restraining order by NIC as a
black market injunction.


Leaders of Wabba faction of NLC and TUC, at their
emergency National Executive Council, NEC,
meeting in Abuja, insisted that once the strike
commences today, only the joint NEC of NLC and
TUC could call it off.


Although newsmen waited anxiously to be briefed
on the outcome of the NEC meeting amid the court
order, leaders of both bodies left the Labour House,
Abuja, venue of the meeting without talking to
journalists.


However, Vanguard sources at the meeting said
NLC and TUC were infuriated that, while government
was on one hand negotiating with them, its officials
were on the other hand, seeking a black market
injunction, and threatened to use the strike to make
a statement to the government.


One of the leaders, who attended the meeting but
spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “Our
decision not to suspend the strike was further
fuelled by today’s (yesterday’s) injunction by the
Industrial Court, restraining us from proceeding on
the strike expected to begin tomorrow (today).”
Corroborating the position of Wabba-led NLC and
TUC, Pro-Labour Civil Society Groups, Joint Action
Front, JAF, vowed to disregard the restraining order.
According to the Secretary of JAF, Abiodun Aremu:
‘’The mass action is on! Let them come with the
injunction, we would disobey whatever injunction
they are coming up with."

No strike — Ajaero

Meanwhile, Factional President of NLC, Joe Ajaero,
yesterday, faulted the restraining order by NIC
stopping the planned strike and mass protest.
Ajaero, while reacting to the restraining order by the
President of NIC, Justice Babatunde Adejumo,
contended that it was wrong for the Attorney
General of the Federation and Minister of Justice,
Abubakar Malami, to have gone to court over a
matter that parties were already on a negotiation
table.

He equally wondered why the President of NIC
would give an order on an ex-parte application
without putting the other party on notice as was the
practice.

Ajaero said: “This was not the first time a court
would try to stop labour action. If you could recall,
when Comrade Adams Oshiomhole was the
president of NLC, there was a court order against
planned strike by NLC and TUC, which Oshiomhole
described as a black market injunction.

“It was very wrong for the Attorney General of the
Federation to have gone to court while parties in
this case, the federal government and Labour, were
already on the negotiation table."

“Ajaero restated his earlier position that labour
could not have mobilised sufficiently enough for
today’s strike without exhausting all avenues for
settlement.


“When we spoke with you yesterday (Monday), we
insisted that there was no way we could mobilize,
sensitize and even start an action tomorrow
(Wednesday).

‘’That we would rather negotiate and it is only when
the negotiations might have collapsed that we take
the option of going through any action.
“On the basis of that, we agreed that a committee
should be set up to, among other things, look at
the issue of minimum wage; look at the issue of
N500bn social investment; look at the issue of
setting up or reconstituting the PPPRA board and
review the N145 new pump price of petroleum
product.

‘’The committee is to report back in two weeks
time. I won’t like to drag it more than this than to
say this is the summary of the agreement
reached.,” he stated.
Ajaero, however, insisted that his faction, including
NUPENG, PENGASSAN, NUEE, among others, would
not go on strike over fuel price hike by the Federal
Government.

He spoke after his faction’s meeting with federal
government officials ended early , yesterday
morning. This was a few hours after the meeting
with Ayuba Wabba’s faction ended.
The meetings, which ended without conclusion,
were in session at press time last night. They
started late yesterday evening.

Source - http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/05/wabbas-nlc-tuc-insist-strike-say-court-order-black-market-injunction/

Kontunu

So dem don get black market for court order?? Adondai!!

BeeBeeOoh:
So dem don get black market for court order?? Adondai!!

what i wanted to say. Nw there's scarcity of court injunction that federal government went for black market.

Oche211:

what i wanted to say. Nw there's scarcity of court injunction that federal government went for black market.

kai! this gobment I don pinis me