The Nigerian Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress have ordered its members to down tools and proceed with the nationwide strike it called to protest the beating of the NLC President, Joe Ajaero in Imo State when he attempted to mobilise workers in Imo State to embark on a protest in total disregard of a subsisting restraining order.
The federal government had earlier secured an order restraining the unions and their affiliates from embarking on the strike. Despite the order from the National Industrial Court, the labour unions still embarked on the nationwide strike.
Unions such as Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) have joined the strike with the electricity workers shutting down the national grid.
The NLC in a post on Tuesday shared circulars of some of the unions that will join the strike.
Apart from ASUU and NUEE, other unions that have joined the strike according to the NLC include: Maritime Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MWUN), National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees (NUBIFIE), Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Polytechnics (SSANIP), National Union of Food Beverage and Tobacco Employees, Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria, and the Nigeria Union of Railway Workers.
Others include National Union of Postal and Telecommunication Employees, National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT), and Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees.
The flagrant disregard of a restraining order from a competent court by the NLC, TUC and its affiliate unions has irked many Nigerians who have called for a strong legal action against the leadership of these unions for trampling on the rule of law.
Some wondered why the Labour unions will hold the entire nation to ransom over an act or disagreement that occurred in Imo State involving the NLC President. Some argued that if there should be any protest or action, it should be localised to Imo State.
This nationwide strike by the organised labour is coming on the heels of growing allegations of partisanship leveled against the Ajaero-led NLC who many accused of turning NLC into an opposition party or doing the opposition work for the Labour Party, which it owns alongside the TUC.