Members of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Monday morning gathered in Kaduna to protest the recent disengagement of over seven thousand civil servants at the state and local governments by the state government.
In solidarity with the protest by the NLC, aviation workers have shut down operations of Kaduna International Airport (KIA) effective Sunday midnight.
The workers, under the aegis of the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP), and National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), said the airport would remain shut for the period of the warning strike.
National NLC Chairman, Ayuba Wabba, during the protest, said due process was not observed in the recent disengagement of the workers from the Local Government Service, State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), and Primary Health Care Agency.
He said further that all the unions including Student Unions and pensioners are part of the protest as they are all directly affected by the disengagement of workers.
“All those that are here today are those that are directly affected. The students are here. The children of those workers that have been thrown out of their job and were not been paid, they are here with us.
“The pensioners that were not being paid are here with us. They claim that local government employees were consulted. The Local Government Employees are here today, they have issued a statement to say that statement was false.
“All leadership of public sector unions are here.
“It is only Kaduna State of all the 36 states of the Federation that threw workers out of their jobs without,” the NLC Chairman said.
Other affiliate unions including the National Union of Petroleum Employees of Nigeria (NUPENG), National Union of Electricity Employees of Nigeria (NUEE), National Union Of Textile, Tailoring and Garment Workers of Nigeria are also participating in the protest.
Meanwhile, earlier on Sunday long queues surfaces at petrol stations in various parts of Kaduna State, especially in the metropolis and other surrounding towns.
Motorists besieged filling stations in what can be described as panic buying of fuel ahead of the planned industrial action by the NLC and its affiliate unions in the state.
In the meantime, the Kaduna State government has said the five-day warning strike by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), which began on Monday, will not distract it from its plan to ‘rightsize’ the civil service of the state.
The state government dismissed the strike and street protests as an attempt by labour union leaders to sabotage its policy but said the first day of the strike has not affected the operations of the government.
The state’s Head of Service, Bara’atu Mohammed, said this to journalists in Kaduna during a brief state executive council meeting on Monday.
Mrs Mohammed said the state government will not rescind the decison to sack civil servants that are not needed in the state.
She said the NLC strike and protest were an attempt to sabotage the policy of the government, vowing,however, that the government will not be distracted.
“What is happening in Kaduna is not an industrial action but a campaign of social and economic sabotage.
“Kaduna State government is functioning despite the illegal attempt to block our offices, hospitals and schools. The schools are opened, our offices are opened, the hospitals are opened.
“NLC are aware that inflicting pains on citizens by locking hospitals and shutting down electricity will not change the decision of Kaduna State government to rightsize and will not change our intention to use the Trade Union Act which prohibits strike by extension service workers.”
Mrs Mohammed also said she received the leadership of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) in hear office Monday morning who told the government they will not be part of the NLC strike.
“The TUC met with us today and we had a fruitful discussion. It was a good discussion. They also promised us they will not be party to the NLC strike in the state.”