“Leaders come and go, but there will always be workers’ unions.”
This is the philosophical view that Elder Linus Ukamba, senior assistant general secretary of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), has adopted towards plans by President Olusegun Obasanjo to dismantle the union federation.
The NLC was established as Nigeria’s only national union federation in 1978, and has become one of the most vocal workers’ groups in Africa. It has also been the main voice of opposition in Nigeria since the country returned to democratic rule five years ago.
A substantial number of workers in Africa’s most populous nation belong to the NLC, which has managed to embarrass Obasanjo’s administration several times by shutting down the country during general strikes.
The federation has been particularly critical of the government’s decision to scrap fuel subsidies, which has seen petroleum prices rising. Strikes called to protest the increases seem to have earned the NLC some support among the poor.
“Even though I cannot go to the market to trade whenever there is an NLC-led strike, I like the union because it is fighting for downtrodden Nigerians,” says Iyabo Fasua, who makes her living in the country’s commercial centre of Lagos.
The government has claimed that rising prices are simply the regrettable cost of implementing reforms that will improve the nation’s economy in the long run. Now it appears to view the NLC itself as something that needs to be reformed.
Accordingly, Obasanjo has proposed a Bill seeking an amendment to the Trade Unions Act.
Under the Bill, the NLC will cease to exist as Nigeria’s main union federation, as stipulated under current law. In its place will be a collection of sector-specific trade unions that will draw their membership from the various occupations and industries. Union membership also becomes voluntary.
The Bill will make it more difficult for different unions to join forces, as it gives the government the power to decide which groups can form a federation. In addition, the Bill says unions can only be registered if the government deems their existence to be in the public interest.
Nigerians appear divided over whether or not the NLC should be subjected to this fate.
Ade Ajibade, an official from Nigeria’s Ministry of Labour, says having multiple unions as opposed to a central body is in line with the requirements of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). (Obasanjo has also claimed that the country’s existing labour laws go against ILO conventions, in that they oblige workers to pay union dues.)
Other officials say breaking the monopoly of the NLC will democratise union activity.
But, human rights lawyer Festus Keyamo dismisses these views.
“Nobody has complained about the NLC as it is regulated by the present law,” he says. “The various unions that make up the NLC are not agitating against a centralised labour union, so why should government take it upon itself to decentralise or proscribe the union?”
Another controversial aspect of the proposed labour Bill is that it makes it difficult to organise strikes.
The law says that any union wishing to go on strike must secure the approval of at least two-thirds of its members before doing so. At present, decisions to strike are taken by the NLC’s central working committee.
Keyamo believes that this provision shows the president is not seeking to improve Nigeria’s labour laws — but simply cripple the NLC, which has become a thorn in the government’s side.
“The government wants to proscribe or decentralise the NLC in order to emasculate the union. This is the only organised opposition to the government. It is the government’s last battle against the opposition,” he noted.
“Once the NLC is decentralised the government will be able to take unpopular decisions that will go unchallenged.”
Adds Ukamba: “There is no democratic environment in the world where two-thirds of workers have to vote for a strike before it can take place.”
The NLC also claims that this provision is against ILO norms.
“Nigeria may be adopting bad labour laws against the provisions of the ILO if the Bill is passed,” Ukamba says, noting that “a government that decides to act illegally will stumble”.
Successive governments in Nigeria have tried by various means to clip the wings of the NLC. Some of the union’s worst moments came during military rule.
In 1987, the government of General Ibrahim Babangida cancelled NLC elections and appointed a sole administrator to run the body.
General Sani Abacha, who took over from Babangida in 1993 after an aborted election, also waged war against the NLC, dissolving the elected leadership of the body and — like Babangida — appointing a sole administrator to run it.
But, never in its 30-year history has the NLC faced the threat of losing its monopoly as Nigeria’s main union federation. Ukamba remains optimistic that the organisation will overcome this obstacle.
“You do not stop workers through laws. So long as government has anti-people policies and people are dissatisfied with such policies, workers will always form strong unions,” he says. — IPS