Picketing of NECA is criminal, says Oshinowo

The Director General of the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association, Segun Oshinowo, has condemned the picketing of NECA by a faction of the Nigeria Labour Congress.
Oshinowo described it as criminal.
Oshinowo spoke to newsmen on Friday in Lagos while reacting to the picketing of NECA, which disrupted its 59th Annual General Meeting.
The Joe Ajaero faction of the NLC disrupted NECA’s AGM over what it termed anti-labour stance.
The faction said the director general is presiding over an association whose members cut across banks and other sectors of the economy and still “takes delight in sacking workers without recourse to extant labour laws”.
Oshinowo had in June accused the Ajaero faction of the NLC of running an illegal parallel congress.
Oshinowo said the picketing was a breach of right for employers and the Nigerian law and urged security officials to arrest the group and charge them for criminal act.
He said: “It was a surprise that when employers arrived for the AGM, they were not allowed to enter into NECA premises.
“The group has breached the law of the country and must be charged to court.”
Oshinowo debunked the allegation that NECA was using thugs to settle industrial crisis as it believed in the rule of law and adherence to due process.
He, however, said NECA had never intervened in the NLC crisis because it was an internal matter that should be settled with dialogue and understanding.
Oshinowo advised both factions to work together and ensure development of the labour movement and workers in Nigeria.
Reacting, Ajaero called on NECA to state its position on the picketing and sacking of bank workers, which was the cause of the issue to ensure that the crisis does not affect its credibility.
He also said security agencies should arrest the hoodlums who attacked the protesting workers and injured innocent citizens.
Ajaero advised the Ministry of Labour and Employment to sanction NECA and its director-general for violation of labour rules and regulations governing their social partners.