Plateau State Chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has said that there is no going back on the ongoing strike in the state.
Addressing a press conference in Jos, the state capital, the state NLC Chairman, Comrade Jibrin Banchir, said the strike will continue even with the state government’s ‘no-work-no-pay’ policy which he said is not recognised in Nigeria’s legal system.
Leading three others unions to the conference, Banchir disclosed that the government’s position that it was ready to pay the N18,000 minimum wage was just a gimmick, because the template Labour presented for negotiation was not the one the government said it is implementing.
He said, “The government’s position on the national minimum wage to the effect that it has met all conditions of the law, is not only laughable, but equally a mischievous interpretation of the law.”
He then urged the workers to remain calm and act within the confines of the law, even in the face of threats since the law was not targeted at the state government as was being orchestrated by the government and its cronies.
Meanwhile, the Coordinator, National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) Zone C, Kassim Muhammed, has called on both Plateau State Government and the Joint Unions of Plateau State-Owned Tertiary Institutions to resolve their differences and go back to work so that the students can continue with their studies.
In a press conference held yesterday in Jos, the National Coordinator lamented that the Joint Unions of Plateau State-owned Tertiary Institutions have wasted a full academic session on strike without regard to the plight of the students.
If the lecturers refuse to return to class, he said that the students may have no choice “but to endorse the implementation of the ‘No work No pay’ law under section 43 (a) of the Trade Dispute Act which provides that, where any worker takes, part in a strike, he shall not be entitled to any wages or other remuneration for the period of the strike.”
He therefore, called on the state government to consider alternative measures that will ensure speedy return of students to classes. “Anything possible is better than the best lecturers that are not available.”