The Nigeria Labour Congress on Wednesday in Abuja picketed the Corporate Headquarters of the Nigerian Postal Service over alleged interference in the management of workers’ union.
The Congress accused NIPOST management of arbitrarily ceding junior staff of the National Union of Postal Employees to the Senior Staff Association of Communications, Transport and Corporation without the consent of the leadership of NUPTE.
The NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, led members of the union and other affiliate unions as well as NIPOST workers to carry out the action.
The protesters carried placards with various inscriptions such as: “Remit check-off dues of workers on grade level 07”; “It is the exclusive right of NIPOST workers to choose the union they wish to belong to”; “Stop anti-labour policies against NUPTE members in NIPOST”; “Post-Master General is not above Nigerian constitution”; “Remit our check-off dues to NUPTE”; “Post-master General is violating our right to association”.
Addressing the workers, the NLC president said Section 40 of labour law and the International Labour Organisation made provision for freedom of association for Nigerian workers.
Wabba said: “These workers belonged to a union for over 30 years and overnight the management transferred them to another union.
“Is that what the law says?
“Freedom of association means workers should decide which union they want to belong, not at the whim and caprices of the management.
“Management should seek the consent of NUPTE before ceding its members to SSACTAC.”
Wabba said it was wrong for NIPOST management to write a letter ceding NUPTE members to SSACTAC without their consent.
The NLC president said that congress was never served with any court order restraining its members from picketing NIPOST.
In his remark, the NUPTE President, Sunday Alhassan, said there was never a time he informed NIPOST management that his members wished to belong to SSACTAC.
Alhassan said he got wind of it in November when the check-off dues of his members were deducted and paid to SSACTAC.
He said: “From December till, now they are still deducting the check-off dues of this category of workers.
“They never subscribed to membership of Senior Staff Association and we told the management that their action was wrong, but it refused to reverse it.”
Alhassan said that NUPTE had been an affiliate of the NLC for about 30 years.
He said the union decided to intimate the NLC on the issue when NIPOST management was harassing and intimidating his members.
“The NLC wrote to NIPOST management on two occasions to reverse its decision so that we can sit down and dialogue, but it refused.”
Addressing the protesters, Chabiri Ndahi, the Deputy Post-Master in charge of Human Resources, said the doors of the organization were open for dialogue.
Ndahi, who represented the Post-Master General, said his boss stayed away for safety reasons.
He said: “The Post-master General got the wind of the picket ahead of time and felt that the best thing to do was to stay away from office as he was not sure of his security,” Ndahi said.
He however said the management would welcome NLC and all the concerned parties for round table discussion.
NAN.
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