The Nigeria Labour Congress has threatened to embark on a national strike in solidarity with the striking workers of Plateau State if the industrial dispute between the workers and Governor Jonah Jang over the non implementation of the 2012 Minimum Wage Act was not resolved by Dec. 20.
The President of the NLC, Mr. Abdulwahed Omar, who briefed journalists after a meeting of the Central Working Committee of the congress in Abuja on Friday, said that it was also part of the resolution of the NLC that the leadership of the two leading trade centres in the country would relocate to Plateau to strengthen the striking workers.
Omar dismissed claims attributed to the Commissioner of Police in Plateau State that the NLC and its Trade Union Congress counterpart had been served with court papers to prevent them from going on strike.
The labour leader said it was untrue that the NLC had received such court papers, even as he urged the workers to continue with the struggle to demand for their rights.
The labour leader lamented that Jang travelled outside the country amidst the worsening security situation in the volatile state.
He stressed that the governor's actions could only point to the fact that he did not care about the security and well-being of the people of Plateau.
He said that all the state councils of the NLC and the TUC would be mobilised to embark on prayers against anybody that was opposed to a peaceful resolution of the industrial dispute between the Plateau workers and the government.
He said, “The Central Working Committee noted that despite the fact that the armed forces and the police are using live bullets on workers, the governor of the state travelled out of the country.
“This means that the governor does not care about the well-being of the people.
“If by Dec. 20, 2012, the dispute between the workers and Plateau State is not resolved, the NLC would be forced to declare a national strike in solidarity with the workers.”
Omar, who said that the Plateau situation was getting out of hand, called on President Goodluck Jonathan, well meaning Nigerians and indeed the Federal Government, to rein in Jang in order to prevent the situation in the state from escalating.
He insisted that the President had a responsibility to ensure that “Plateau does not burn.”
