One crisis too many in Kaduna

Rallies held by trade unions in Kaduna State last week and the trenchant media campaign by the Kaduna State government all point to a looming showdown between labour unions and the state government led by Governor Nasir Ahmed El-Rufa’i. The bone of contention is the Kaduna State government’s drive to make membership of workers’ unions […]

Rallies held by trade unions in Kaduna State last week and the trenchant media campaign by the Kaduna State government all point to a looming showdown between labour unions and the state government led by Governor Nasir Ahmed El-Rufa’i. The bone of contention is the Kaduna State government’s drive to make membership of workers’ unions optional for the state’s civil servants.
As part of its effort to weed out ghost workers on its payroll, the state government issued a form titled “Special Exercise on Staff Verification (SESV).” One item on it requested all workers to indicate “Yes” or “No” to union membership. El-Rufa’i’s media assistant Samuel Aruwan said, “Government respects the right of workers to freedom of association. Government considered that it is democratic that those who wish to exercise this right or not should indicate their interest in writing.” He also said the Kaduna State government is not anti-union and was only availing workers in the public sector, for the first time, of the opportunity to indicate whether or not they wish to belong to a union.
The leadership of the Kaduna State branch of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) however objected to making union membership voluntary, probably because of its implications for check-off dues which is the life-line for labour unions. The NLC leaders claimed that union membership is automatic under Nigeria’s federal labour laws. Next, they mobilized workers last week and crippled government activities in Kaduna State. State and local government workers abandoned their duty posts and instead attended a rally to protest what NLC called Governor Nasiru El-Rufai’s anti-workers policies.
Labour is also threatening a nation-wide industrial action if the governor fails to rescind his “anti-labour policies” within seven days. Addressing workers at the Kaduna State NLC branch’s secretariat, NLC National President Comrade Ayuba Wabba said leaders of NLC and of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) met and resolved that the Kaduna State governor must pay workers their salary arrears of several months within one week or face a nation-wide industrial action. Wabba advised workers to keep a copy of their SESV forms with union officials because, he said, el-Rufa’i wants to rig the process and announce that most workers indicated their wish not to join any trade union.
Wabba added that the governor would use such “result” as a basis to abrogate unionism in the state. The labour leader also said if the governor fails to pay workers all outstanding salary arrears and also settle compensation due to victims of
the governor’s verification exercises, NLC will mobilise workers in all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as well as workers outside the public service to stage a day of solidarity with Kaduna State workers. He said, “We are going to occupy Kaduna along with our colleagues, market men and women, artisans, bank workers, construction workers, drivers’ unions and everyone that is sympathetic to organised labour”.
It is not in anyone’s interest that this should happen. We urge the Kaduna State Government and the Nigeria Labour Congress to explore the dialogue option and work out an amicable settlement to this totally avoidable crisis.  NLC’s stance that labour union membership must be automatic is not the position of the law. However, governments at all levels turned a blind eye while union membership became automatic in practice. For now, it should be allowed to continue that way, since the workers themselves are not visibly objecting.
Kaduna State has in recent times become a hotbed of controversies and crises ranging from demolition of illegal houses to the Shi’ite-Army clash and the attempt by the state government to regulate religious preaching. These controversies are too many; a breach of industrial peace is the last thing Kaduna State needs at this time. This dispute should be amicably resolved before things get out of hand.