By Johnbosco Agbakwuru
THE organised labour Saturday said that the planned nationwide strike expected to commence midnight Sunday will go ahead despite the purported court injunction restraining labour from embarking on strike.
Labour also faulted the said injunction stopping the protest, saying that the action of the government has put the Monday meeting on a shaky position even as it said that the protest was organized by Nigerians and not the labour.
Meanwhile, some affiliate labour unions have arrived Abuja for the strike.
Recall that the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and its sister union, the Trade Union Congress, TUC, had given the federal government September 28 deadline to reverse the recent increase in prices of petrol and electricity tariff if not they would shut down the economy.
But a group suspected to be sponsored by the Federal Government had procured injunction in Thursday at the National Industrial Court, restraining the labour from going on strike.
Speaking to Sunday Vanguard, the Deputy National President of the NLC and General Secretary of the National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE, Comrade Joe Ajaero said that there was no contrary instruction that the protest will not hold.
We don’t have any instruction to the contrary.
Responding to the question on whether the court injunction had been served to labour, Comrade Ajaero said, “I am not sure any court injunction has been served to us. Are they giving injunctions to us or Nigerians?
” If they serve us it is a wrong tactic, what’s happening is that Nigerians are protesting so maybe they will serve Nigerians the injunction.
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“It is action taken by Nigerians and labour is part of Nigeria and we are going to protest. if you serve one party and you don’t serve the other, the other will still go ahead. Let them injunct Nigerians.”
On the directive by the Head of Service of the Federation that workers should report to office on September 28, he said: “Well Workers are Nigerians they will still protest when they are protesting they will not be in office.”
Reminded that the workers may be punished if they join the strike, he said, “If they are being punished, that is part of the action and if they are being punished then they will stay at home indefinitely and you know the implications.
“And you can’t even injunct us and invite us to a meeting, it’s like the Monday meeting is on a shaky ground, we may not attend it until we decide what to do whether it is through dialogue or through court action.”
It was reliable gathered that the leadership of some unions have arrived Abuja for the protest on Monday.
