Workers of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), under the umbrella of the Joint Union Action Committee (JUAC), on Thursday resumed the indefinite strike earlier declared on January 19 over unresolved welfare demands.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that activities remained largely paralysed across FCTA Secretariats, Departments and Agencies, with only a handful of workers sighted at their duty posts, a sharp contrast to the turnout recorded on Wednesday.
The low presence followed a directive issued by JUAC, instructing workers to remain at home in continuation of the industrial action.
The resumption of the strike came after JUAC appealed the January 27 ruling of the National Industrial Court, which had ordered workers to suspend the strike and adjourned the matter until March 23. The appeal was filed through JUAC’s lead counsel, Femi Falana, SAN.
Following the court ruling, the acting Head of the Civil Service of the FCTA, Mrs Nancy Nathan, had directed all FCT workers to return to work on Wednesday. The FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, also issued a warning, saying there would be consequences for any worker who failed to resume duty.
Wike, however, assured workers that the FCTA remained open to “reasonable negotiation,” while maintaining that most of their demands had already been met.
Despite these assurances, JUAC insisted that the strike remained in force. In a circular issued on Wednesday, the committee’s Secretary, Abdullahi Saleh, informed workers that the industrial action would continue from Thursday.
Saleh urged workers to “stay at home and pray for the success of the strike,” stressing that the struggle requires “unity, discipline and unwavering commitment.”
He also recalled that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), in a joint communiqué issued on January 28, had called on FCT workers to defend their rights with “courage and dignity.”
The labour unions argued that the interlocutory injunction obtained by Wike and the FCTA was directed at the President of JUAC, Mrs Rifkatu Iortyer, and Saleh, rather than the trade unions themselves.
In the communiqué signed by the NLC Acting General Secretary, Benson Upah, and TUC Secretary General, Nuhu Toro, the unions maintained that the strike would continue until Wike engages in negotiations with the FCT workers. (NAN)
