Workers in the Federal Capital Territory have been told to disregard the no-work, no-pay directive issued by the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, as the indefinite strike over teachers’ welfare enters its second week.
The call was made by the Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), FCT Council, Mr Knabayi Adalo, and the Secretary of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), FCT Wing, Mrs Margaret Jethro, in separate circulars to members on Sunday. The circulars were made available to the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja on Monday.
Both labour leaders described Wike’s directive as “unconstitutional, illegal, provocative and unenforceable.”
Wike had on Friday ordered area council chairmen to apply the no-work, no-pay rule against workers who joined the strike declared by the NLC on October 7 over unresolved disputes between the FCT Administration and the NUT.
The minister had also instructed the Head of the FCT Civil Service, principals and headteachers to open daily attendance registers to monitor absent teachers.
Responding, Adalo urged teachers and other affected workers to remain resolute and ignore threats of salary seizure or attendance tracking.
He insisted that industrial action is a lawful instrument protected by Nigerian law and global labour 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.
He explained that Section 43 of the Trade Disputes Act, which provides for no-work, no-pay only applies to illegal strikes, adding that an employer cannot benefit from a crisis it created.
According to him, the FCT Administration triggered the action by infringing on teachers’ rights, including the imposition of a vacancy clause on their promotion and “the demotion of directors who are legitimate beneficiaries of the Harmonised Retirement Age for Teachers Act, 2022.”
Adalo further dismissed the use of attendance registers during a strike, saying they hold no legal weight and are only meant to create division.
“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.
He warned that any principal or headteacher who compels teachers to sign the register or forwards names for punishment would be held personally liable.
