Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has described the registration of the new university-based unions, Congress of Nigerian University Academics (CONUA) and Nigeria Association of Medical & Dental Academics (NAMDA) as a recipe for chaos and confusion which would fail.
NLC national president, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, said the registration contravened the Labour Acts and lacked the principles of International Labour Organisation (ILO) to operate as unions.
Wabba who spoke at a roundtable with stakeholders to commemorate the 2022 World Day for Decent Work in Abuja demanded for wage justice and cost of living allowance to enable Nigerian workers meet their financial needs in line with current economic realities.
He said even though the Nigerian Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of association as argued by the minister of labour and employment, Dr Chris Ngige, the registration and recognition of the two unions was done out of line and cannot exist side-by-side with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) which already unionised both CONUA and NAMDA.
He said, “I can confirm that the registration of the two other unions is a violation of our Labour Acts, particularly section 5 sub-sector 4 which provides that where already a union that exist represents the interests of the other union that is about to be registered, that union should not be registered and that has been tested and affirmed by the Supreme Court.
“So, if you put it through the mirror of Labour Acts, it has failed clearly. The Act also provides that before you register a union, it will be published in a national gazette and you will take objection for three months; that has not been done, which is a violation of law.
“So, we are writing to the minister to call his attention because part of the issue is to respect the laws and the cadre that the new union should represent is already unionised by ASUU, therefore the law clearly spelt that that cannot happen. It is a recipe for chaos and also confusion, that is what we can say emphatically”, he added.
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