Kaduna strike: NLC vows, no retreat, no surrender

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday vowed to continue the protest and strike action in Kaduna State until the state government rescind its anti workers policy.
The workers in thousands converged at the state Congress secretariat to make good its threat by shutting down all activities in Kaduna state as workers both in the public and private sectors commenced the five day planned industrial action.
The action also has left the state capital like a ghost yard as residents in the state capital stayed indoor and only few were seen opening their businesses despite the assurance from labour that the action would be peaceful.
Addressing the workers on Monday morning, the NLC President, Ayuba Wabba said there would be no retreat, no surrender during the scheduled five days earmarked for the action.
The NLC President said all the affiliates from electricity, to petroleum, railway, aviation, banks have complied totally by shutting down all their facilities.
He lamented that despite the fact that Kaduna state government generated highest internal revenue in the North, it has the least workers and has continued to retrench without due course to constitution.
“This is just the beginning, tomorrow we will make sure that the number of our members on the road are more than this. We are complying fully with the constitution and we are fully aware of the COVID-19 protocol and complying,” he said.
The NLC President Ayuba Wabba, who led thousands of workers to State House of Assembly , Government House, and State Secretariat in Kaduna, emphasized that organized labour would ensure its demands are acceded to by the Governor.
He stated that the five-day warning strike is a decision of the highest body of labour, saying, “The decision has been communicated to all security agencies of government. It is the beginning of struggle of labour, hope our politicians will cooperate with us to ensure we protect our democracy by delivering its dividends to the citizens including workers.
“More than 90 per cent of Nigerians are living in abject poverty and that is why insecurity and other social vices have increased in the country.”
Wabba assured that the organized labour is in Kaduna to tell the world the truth of what the workers, pensioners, students and other citizens in the state are going through besides the lies being peddled by media platforms on El-Rufai’s payroll.
He explained that the situation of the workers in the state is so pathetic that thousands of them have been laid off from their sources of livelihood without the state government making any effort to pay them their entitlements.
He added that worse still, El-Rufai has gone further to increase the school fees thereby making the children of those sacked from their working place without payment to become dropouts.
The labour leader lamented that workers in the state were being sacked from their jobs without following the due process, adding that no constituted labour union was contacted by Governor El-Rufai before taking the action.
“It is only in Kaduna state out of the other states in the country that workers are thrown out of their jobs without any regards to the labour law and that is why we are here,” he said.
The NLC President added that political elites are elected to respect the law of the land and uphold the provisions of the land, lamenting, “Here we have a governor that is not respecting the law but violating the law with impunity. He has sacked thousands of workers in the state. Over 20,000 workers in the state have not been paid their April salary.”
“After sacking the workers from their jobs, Governor Nasir El-Rufai has gone ahead to increase the school fees thereby sending students away from school as their parents could not afford the new school fees,” he said
He refuted allegations made by the Governor that he had invited labour before sacking workers or sent any new invitation for dialogue.
He explained further that traders are not left behind as their shops have been demolished to deny them their means of livelihood, adding that with the policies of the state government, insecurity has become the order of the day in the state.
Meanwhile the Deputy President of the NLC Amechi Asugwuni while addressing the workers has said the action may be extended to other Northern states from tomorrow in solidarity if the Kaduna State government failed to recall the sacked workers.