•Set up 10-man committee to negotiate

The Federal Government has directed the Kaduna State Government to follow due process and the “principle of redundancy,” as stipulated in Section 20 of the Labour Act, in its Public Service Revitalization and Renewal Programme, leading to retrenchment and sack of workers.

It has also directed the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) that henceforth, there shall be no further industrial action, while no worker shall be victimized on account of his or her participation in the industrial action, by the state government.

A 10-man Bi-partite Committee comprising six representatives of Kaduna State Government and three officials of the NLC to engage further on how to carry on the process and ensure that the state government adhered to the principle of redundancy.

This were the outcome of a reconciliatory meeting called by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige between the Kaduna State Government and the NLC, to put an end to the strike and protest by the NLC over the mass sack of workers in the state.

In an agreement signed by both party and the representative of the Federal Government, it was resolved that it falls within the right of an employer to retrench workers but in doing so, a due process, especially principle of redundancy must be followed strictly.

“It was resolved that the principle of redundancy as stated in section 20 of Labour Act, Cap L 1 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) should apply,” the agreement said.

The agreement was signed by: Bariatu Yusuf Mohammed Head of Service, Kaduna State; Comrade Ayuba Wabba, President NLC; Ja’afaru Ibrahim Sani, Commissioner of Local Government Kaduna State, Comrade Najeem Usman, Deputy President NLC; Mrs Omoabie U. Akpan Director Trade Union Services and Industrial Relations; and Muoneke Aloy Director Finance and Accounts, representing the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Labour.

The agreement read: “Following the three days industrial action embarked upon by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on the 17th of May, 2021 in Kaduna State, the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment apprehended the industrial dispute by holding an emergency conciliation meeting between the Kaduna State Government (KDSG) and NLC to deliberate on the following contentious issues as alleged by the NLC.

“Retrenchment of workers by the Kaduna State Government; Compulsory Retirement of workers on Grade Level 14 and above; Compulsory Retirement of workers who have attained the age of 50 years irrespective of their Grade Levels; Reduction of the staff strength of Local Government to 50 in each of the 23 Local Government Areas (LGAs); and Casualization of workers on Grade Level 1-6.”

It added: “After an exhaustive deliberation of all the issues above at the meeting, the officials of Kaduna State Government debunked all the five issues listed above and ascribed them to political opponents of the State Government.

“They also said they were only trying to implement the Kaduna State Government Public Service Revitalization and Renewal Programme approved by the State Executive Council since 2016.

“The NLC also explained their position that they got into the dispute following reports by their Kaduna State affiliate Unions and Negotiating Councils.”

On the resolutions reached, the agreement said: “the meeting agreed that all the listed issues fall within the ambit of redundancy therefore, it was resolved that the principle of redundancy as stated in section 20 of Labour Act, Cap L 1 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) should apply.

“The meeting also recognized that the current impasse was caused by communication gap between the State Government and NLC occasioned by both the local chapter and even the Kaduna State Government Officials.”

It added, “in view of the foregoing, the meeting resolved to constitute a 10-man Bi-partite Committee comprising six representatives of State Government and three officials of the NLC to engage further with the objective of reverting with a work plan on how to integrate the provision of section 20 of the Labour Act CAP L1 LFN 2004 to resolve the impasse between the State Government and the NLC.

“The meeting also resolved that the Committee should have as Chairman, the Head of Service of the Kaduna State Government and assisted by a Deputy National President of the NLC. The Committee is expected to revert with the work plan for peaceful resolution of all issues in contention to the Honourable Minister of Labour and Employment by Tuesday 25th May, 2021.

“The work plan is to itemize the structure and sub-structure in the State and Local Government of their activities, time of commencement and envisaged final tenure of the Committee or make recommendations if in its wisdom it thinks the Committee should be a Permanent Standing Committee.”

“It was agreed that there shall be no further industrial action on these issues and no worker shall be victimized on account of his or her participation in the industrial action.”

https://tribuneonlineng.com/labour-crisis-fg-directs-kaduna-state-government-to-follow-principle-of-redundancy/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

On the resolutions reached, the agreement said: “the meeting agreed that all the listed issues fall within the ambit of redundancy therefore, it was resolved that the principle of redundancy as stated in section 20 of Labour Act, Cap L 1 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) should apply.

Who knows the principle of redundancy as stated in section 20 of Labour Act, Cap L 1 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) ?

I don't understand yet

oyinbo po..


Just say FG don call dere house boy Wabba to compose himself....

Abeg who fit help us locate the principle of redundancy o?

I only hailed d part that no one shall be victimized for participating in the strike. What ever d principle of redundancy is ayam not interested

Why do El-Rufai always win his battles ? He had won this one again simply bcs NLC their say while El-Rufai has his ways .labour can only protest while the governor has the final say on how many numbers of work force he wants in his state.

SamuelLoch:


Who knows the principle of redundancy as stated in section 20 of Labour Act, Cap L 1 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) ?

I don't understand yet

Retrenchment and benefits if you are not productive for more than 6 months.

FG directed the NLC?
Since when did the FG dictate to NLC?

Hell Rufai is a typical leopard,he"ll Neva change.Give the nut president and watch him kill/sack pipu anyhow.Tufia

El-Rufai allows anger to becloud his sense of reasoning. He wants to win all of the time forgetting the principle of "give and take"

Nice one from fg

So far,this Ayuba Wabba,or whatever is his name,has been a very very useless labour leader.

Just imagine, everything he came to kaduna to upturn/oppose has been approved right in his presence and with his approval.

Then, what has labour been fighting?

Ayuba Wabba isn't even different from Buhari,
LIFELESS

Mavrick2012:
So far,this Ayuba Wabba,or whatever is his name,has been a very very useless labour leader.

Just imagine, everything he came to kaduna to upturn/oppose has been approved right in his presence and with his approval.

Then, what has labour been fighting?

Ayuba Wabba isn't even different from Buhari,
LIFELESS

NLC died when Oshiomole left as their president....

If El Rufai is trying to retrench those workers because of redundancy...hmmm I don't see any bad thing there.
He should just make sure they are well compensated on their way out.

Maxymilliano:
El-Rufai allows anger to becloud his sense of reasoning. He wants to win all of the time forgetting the principle of "give and take"

He has succeeded in going no where, you don't just wake up one morning to sack people consultations and a road map of how the process is to be achieved should have been set out and this should be done with the involvement of various labour union representatives...


With this directives now the committee will take forever and nothing will happen...

adekolaelect:
Why do El-Rufai always win his battles ? He had won this one again simply bcs NLC their say while El-Rufai has his ways .labour can only protest while the governor has the final say on how many numbers of work force he wants in his state.

but really the gonment is right though i'm not Hell Rufai's fan. The rot in the workspace in the North is really terrible especially Loku gonment(Local Government).
They dont come to work and you seen them in large number appearing 2 or 3 days to the end of the month loitering around the secretariat only to be see sharing and distributing money in Large sacks. At least i witnessed that while in the north.

That’s how one illiterate was claiming “collective bargaining” and another was justifying strike action.

Many illiterates full Nairaland sha. They don’t even know the difference between right sizing and downsizing.

We must get it right in public service.

I read yesterday that Ben Ayade has 6,000 aides? How na?? Just WTF?

Only in Naija people are actually redundant before even picking up Their appointment letter,

Our politics is too cash intensive

Virus99:
If El Rufai is trying to retrench those workers because of redundancy...hmmm I don't see any bad thing there.
He should just make sure they are well compensated on their way out.

Well no one should be on the payroll if they are redundant, however how do you determine if someone is redundant in this case? This is what should have been done earlier in collaboration with various labour union before coming up with the announcement....

Sec.20
In the event of redundancy
(a) the employer shall inform the trade union or workers' representative concerned of
the reasons for and the extent of the anticipated redundancy;
(b) the principle of "last in, first out" shall be adopted in the discharge of the
particular category of workers affected, subject to all factors of relative merit,
including skill, ability and reliability; and
(c) the employer shall use his best endeavours to negotiate redundancy payments to
any discharged workers who are not protected by regulations made under subsection
(2) of this section.
(2) The Minister may make regulations providing, generally or in particular cases, for
the compulsory payment of redundancy allowances on the termination of a worker's
employment because of his redundancy.
(3) In this section "redundancy" means an involuntary and permanent loss of
employment caused by an excess of manpower.

The German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest physicists of all time, says "What is right is not always popular and what is popular is not always right."

The same labour unions that have derided the high cost of governance in Nigeria now wailing about the move to reduce. What an irony!

How do you achieve development if a state spends over 80 percent of its revenue on salary payment? What happens to the healthcare system, infrastructure, education and other places in dire need of funds? .
Should these cogent sectors suffer the nemesis of maintaining an over-bloated workforce?

Hmmmmm, these are deep words to be reflected upon!

But the Kaduna state government, which was one of the states to first implement the N30,000 minimum wage, has decided to take the bull by the horn.
Rather than resort back to the paltry N18,000, it resolved to lay off redundant civil servants and political appointees

It has also directed the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) that henceforth, there shall be no further industrial action

I don’t understand, can federal government give NLC directive to stop industrial action without reaching an agreement.

Anyways na Nigeria, anything goes. Failed country

SamuelLoch:


Who knows the principle of redundancy as stated in section 20 of Labour Act, Cap L 1 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) ?

I don't understand yet

0. (1) In the event of redundancy-
(a) the employer shall inform the trade union or workers' representative concerned of
the reasons for and the extent of the anticipated redundancy;
(b) the principle of "last in, first out" shall be adopted in the discharge of the
particular category of workers affected, subject to all factors of relative merit,
including skill, ability and reliability; and
(c) the employer shall use his best endeavours to negotiate redundancy payments to
any discharged workers who are not protected by regulations made under subsection
(2) of this section.
(2) The Minister may make regulations providing, generally or in particular cases, for
the compulsory payment of redundancy allowances on the termination of a worker's
employment because of his redundancy.
(3) In this section "redundancy" means an involuntary and permanent loss of
employment caused by an excess of manpower.

OlujobaSamuel:
Abeg who fit help us locate the principle of redundancy o?

Section 20 of labour act, Cap L1.

Redundancy
(I) In the event of redundancy-
(a) the employer shall inform the trade union or workers' representative concerned
of the reasons for and the extent of the anticipated redundancy;
(b) the principle of "last in, first out" shall be adopted in the discharge of the par￾ticular category of workers affected, subject to all factors of relative merit, in￾cluding skill, ability and reliability; and
(c) the employer shall use his best endeavours to negotiate redundancy payments
to any discharged workers who are not protected by regulations made under
subsection (2) of this section.
(2) The Minister may make regulations providing, generally or in particular cases, for
the compulsory payment of redundancy allowances on the termination of a worker's em￾ployment because of his redundancy.
(3) In this section "redundancy" means an involuntary and permanent loss of em￾ployment caused by an excess of manpower.

Grace001:


I don’t understand, can federal government give NLC directive to stop industrial action without reaching an agreement.

Anyways na Nigeria, anything goes. Failed country

what is wrong in this context? Federal government stood as intermediary through the minister of Labour to resolve d conflict between Kaduna state government and NLC. What exy are u implying? Agreement was reached at the end of d day on how to forge ahead which is definitely d first step. Nothing when dem go do when go please ona

Finally both parties have agreed to come into a compromise.

For El- rufai this serves him right.

Ordinarily, under a democratic system of government you can't be ruling with dictatorship as we are not in a military regime.

And to labour union, thank you for raising your voices for the people. You have done well this time.

fitzmayowa:



Well no one should be on the payroll if they are redundant, however how do you determine if someone is redundant in this case? This is what should have been done earlier in collaboration with various labour union before coming up with the announcement....

where they d one that employed themselves that would warrant not been paid ? Hope government employed them on the basis on needing employees? So y should they not been on payroll due to redundancy?

Lobatan

27Pushing30:
That’s how one illiterate was claiming “collective bargaining” and another was justifying strike action.

Many illiterates full Nairaland sha. They don’t even know the difference between right sizing and downsizing.

We must get it right in public service.

I read yesterday that Ben Ayade has 6,000 aides? How na?? Just WTF?

Only in Naija people are actually redundant before even picking up Their appointment letter,

Our politics is too cash intensive

could you pls elaborate why the strike action was not justifiable by NLC?

SamuelLoch:


Who knows the principle of redundancy as stated in section 20 of Labour Act, Cap L 1 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) ?

I don't understand yet

Section 20 of the Labour Act provides that in the event of redundancy, the employer shall inform the trade union or workers' representative concerned of the reasons and extent of the anticipated redundancy. The employer shall adopt the principle of "last in, first out" in the discharge of the workers affected, subject to all factors of relative merit, including skill, ability and reliability. This means workers who have been in employment longer will be considered for discharge before the latest workers to come into the employment. The employer shall use his best endeavours to negotiate redundancy payments to the discharged workers who are not covered under any regulation.

However, it is settled law that where the employment of workers is wrongfully terminated i.e. terminated against the provisions of the labour law or their contract of employment, the remedy available to the workers is for their benefits which would have accrued to them had their employment been legally terminated, to be paid to them. Apart from employment with statutory flavour (i.e. workers in civil service or other employments protected by statutes), it has been settled by Nigerian courts that the law or Court cannot foist a willing employee on an unwilling employer and vice versa.

Hence, an employer has a duty to furnish the workers with a notice stating the reasons for their discharge on the grounds of redundancy and comply with the "last in, first out" principle in the labour law in discharging the workers. Nevertheless, the employer has the right to consider other factors like the relative merit, skill, ability and reliability of the workers in reaching a decision on which of the workers to be discharged on grounds of redundancy. The employer has a duty to rely on international best practices to reach a redundancy payment to the discharged workers who are not covered by any existing regulation.

Regrettably, where a worker was wrongfully discharged on ground of redundancy, the worker is only entitled to his redundancy benefits as stated in the relevant Employment Contract, Collective Agreement or regulation. The worker does not have a right to reinstatement, loss earnings, emotional or psychological pain. This is because the Court cannot force or foist a willing worker on an unwilling employer.

SamuelLoch:


Who knows the principle of redundancy as stated in section 20 of Labour Act, Cap L 1 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) ?

I don't understand yet

The unproductive/redundant workers are sacked first

I have never mixed issues right from day one. He may be brash in his actions thus making governance overly difficult for himself but the choice is his.

He can either be a CEO or tje head of an NGO. He chose the former and that is exactly what Nigeria needs right now. Someone to stand for the truth. This country is bankrupt.

There are a million reasons why we are here but that is a story for another day. The fact is simple. 80 percent of the resources of state going to the infamous 5percentile is just ridiculous, disastrous and insidious.

This country and the world at large has gone through major, major shocks this past year and a half. Only the Nigerian civil service has remained unbothered about making the sacrifices to keep this country alive. How can that be.

How can it be that it is only the civil service that guarantees jobs and income for life no matter what incidental economic storms are out there. Thay is grossly unfair.

Hundreds of thousands of jobs have been lost in Nigeria this past 18 months. Hardworking, patriotic folks walking away without a whimper. How will they feel seeing this unfortunate turn of events by these 'privileged' few.

Let us get real in this country. It is not when government folks kick that we know things are really bad. Nigeria is twenty times plus bigger than government.