Concerned about a planned demonstration in support of Academic Staff Union of Universities members who are on strike, the Rivers State Government and the Nigeria Labour Congress are at odds.
The state government threatened to discipline any employees who joined the strike out of sympathy, but the NLC claimed that the government lacked the authority to do so.
The warning was delivered to employees in Port Harcourt by the state’s head of service, Dr. Rufus Godwins.
Godwins argued that there was no justification for state employees to participate in the strike, arguing that neither lecturers nor employees of the state government were owed anything by the state government.
The right of civil servants to be members of their various unions is not affected by this, he remarked.
They are not permitted to participate in a strike that they claim is in solidarity with another department or level of government that is failing to uphold its duties to its own employees while we are doing so.
Because of this, I advise against going on a sympathy strike. A different scenario arises when we owe you money. “Our universities are functioning. We have no obligation to our civil servants. Our obligations to them are being met.
The state HoS announced that an attendance register would be opened right away to track disloyal civil servants and dispense the necessary punishments.
In Nigeria, there are 170 academic institutions. Allow the Federal Government to close down and rationalise the universities if it is unable to manage them.
Every civil servant is aware that being absent from work while on duty is considered misconduct and is subject to a penalty under the public service rules that apply to the services.
“Malingering, loitering, refusal to treat files; you can’t be away from your duty without permission, you will he asked.
For you to participate in a strike that we forbid you from participating in, especially if the absence was motivated by an illegal motive, Godwins said.
Beatrice Itubo, the NLC’s state chair, quickly refuted the allegations that the union intended to begin a solidarity strike on Wednesday.
Itubo, however, criticised the Head of Service for calling a meeting just to issue threats to the state’s civil servants.
Nobody has demanded a national strike, she remarked. The incident occurred last Thursday when we attended a meeting of the National Executive Committee.
The labour family is to stand in solidarity with the students and ASUU, it was announced on the NEC floor.
“Based on that, we ought to return home and educate our populace so that we will all join the fight the moment the whistle blows.
“As a result, I’m not sure how the Rivers State Government learned that a global protest is about to start.
Like that, there is nothing. Observe our websites all. Nevertheless, it goes without saying that everyone in this nation stands with ASUU and shares the students’ plight who have been at home for nearly six months.
The majority of their kids aren’t in school in Nigeria, they say.
She clarified that if organised labour decides to go on strike, the state government does not have the authority to put an end to it.
The head of the state’s NLC referred to the state’s government’s threat to penalise any civil servant who participates in the solidarity strike as an empty threat.
They are only threatening. The staff is more knowledgeable. We are going to cross that bridge when we get there,” Itubo said.
