The Nigeria Labour Congress has issued a four-week ultimatum to the Federal Government should it fail to finish negotiations with all tertiary institutions-based unions.
The NLC also condemned the no-work-no-pay policy issued by the government as a punishment on the Academic Staff Union of Universities for daring to embark on a nationwide strike.
The president of the NLC, Joe Ajaero made this annoucement during an ongoing interactive session with labour correspondents in Abuja. The interactive session followed the meeting between the NLC and leaders of tertiary institutions’ based unions at the NLC headquarters in Abuja.
He said, “We have decided to give the federal government four weeks to conclude all negotiations in this sector. They have started talks with ASUU but the problem in this sector goes beyond ASUU.”
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“That is why we are extending this to four weeks. If after four weeks this negotiation is not concluded, the organs of the NEC will meet and take a nationwide action that all workers in the country, all unions in the country will be involved so that we get to the root of all this.“
“The era of signing agreements, negotiations and threatening the unions involved, that era has come to an end,” he noted.
The NLC union backed ASUU and other tertiary education unions, calling for robust participation from all union leaders. It also highlighted the principle of a converse stance, “No Pay, No Work”, urging the government to honour collective agreements and respect the rights of workers.
Similarly, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) last week Wednesday also issued a seven-day ultimatum to the Federal Government and ASUU to resolve their disputes or risk nationwide protests.
The student body warned that if the two parties failed to resolve their issues, a prolonged strike could once again cripple Nigeria’s academic calendar.