NLC, NUT Reject Wike’s No-Work, No-Pay Threat Against Striking FCT Workers

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Council, and the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), FCT Wing, have rejected Minister Nyesom Wike’s directive to enforce the no-work, no-pay policy against striking workers.

Mr Knabayi Adalo, Chairman of the NLC FCT Council, and Mrs Margaret Jethro, Secretary of the NUT FCT Wing, stated their positions in separate circulars to members on Sunday.

In the circulars released on Monday, the labor leaders described the directive as “unconstitutional, illegal, provocative and unenforceable”.

Wike had on Friday directed area council chairmen to enforce the no-work, no-pay policy against workers participating in the ongoing strike.

The directive followed an indefinite strike declared by the NLC on October 7 over unresolved disputes between the FCT Administration and the NUT.

The minister also instructed the FCT Head of Civil Service, school principals and headteachers to open daily attendance registers to monitor workers who failed to report for duty.

Reacting, Adalo urged affected workers and teachers to remain steadfast and disregard threats of salary stoppage and attendance monitoring.

He maintained that strike action remained a legitimate industrial relations tool recognized under Nigerian law and international labor standards.

“Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution, the Trade Unions Act, and ILO Conventions 87, 98 and 151, all ratified by Nigeria, guarantee workers’ right to embark on strike after due process. “The NLC FCT has fulfilled all legal conditions,” Adalo stated.

On the threat to withhold salaries, the labour leader argued that Section 43 of the Trade Disputes Act, which provides for the no-work, no-pay principle, applied only to illegal strikes.

He further argued that employers should not benefit from their own wrongdoing when their actions create conditions that necessitate industrial action.

According to him, the FCT Administration triggered the strike by violating teachers’ rights through the introduction of a vacancy clause affecting their promotions.

“Another issue is the demotion of directors who are legitimate beneficiaries of the Harmonized Retirement Age for Teachers Act, 2022,” he said.

Adalo also cited previous judgments of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, which he said supported workers’ entitlement to salaries in certain circumstances involving legitimate strikes.

He maintained that salaries could not lawfully be withheld when workers embarked on a legitimate strike arising from an employer’s breach of agreement.

In response to reports that some school heads were compelling teachers to sign attendance registers, Adalo directed union members not to sign the documents.

He argued that attendance registers opened during a strike had no legal value and were intended to divide workers.

“Participation in a union-declared strike is lawful industrial action, not absenteeism.

“Workers facing queries, threats or harassment are instructed to report immediately to the NLC FCT Council Secretariat with evidence,” he said.

Adalo warned that principals and headteachers who forced teachers to sign attendance registers or submitted lists for punitive action would be held personally responsible.

He added that the union could organize picketing against administrators involved in such actions.

The NLC chairman urged the FCT Administration to address the workers’ grievances rather than resort to intimidation.

He demanded the immediate removal of the vacancy clause, the conduct of the 2025 promotion exercise and the full reinstatement of demoted directors.

“We assure all teachers and workers that the NLC will protect your jobs and salaries. No worker will be victimized,” Adalo said.

Similarly, Jethro described the no-work, no-pay directive as illegal and an empty threat, urging teachers not to return to work out of fear.

“We must remain resolute. Do not chicken out; we must fight this battle together and now.

“We urge you not to panic, not to be intimidated and not to sign any attendance register. Shun the threat; the ongoing strike is legal and constitutionally guaranteed.

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“Our demands are genuine and not political, as is being insinuated. We are asking for our welfare, not for power,” she said.

The NUT secretary thanked teachers for complying with the strike in defense of their welfare, despite what she described as a “betrayal” by the Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS).

She accused ASUSS of abandoning teachers by withdrawing from the strike. Jethro urged teachers to remain peaceful and law-abiding while staying away from work.