By Johnbosco Agbakwuru
ABUJA— THE Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions, NASU, has described the Federal Government “No work, no pay” policy as a tool of intimidation used to silence the legitimate struggle of workers for fairness, dignity, and the implementation of agreements.
General Secretary of NASU, Prince Peters Adeyemi, who sharply condemned the repeated threats by Nigerian government officials to enforce the “No Work, No Pay” policy against workers considering lawful strikes, said “Strikes are not impulsive or anarchic.”
Adeyemi attributed industrial actions to government failures to honor agreements, pay workers on time, and comply with labor laws.
In a statement titled: “Recurring threats by government officials to enforce the “No Work, No Pay” Policy: A call for justice, collective bargaining, and dignity of labour,”
the NASU General Secretary stressed. “They are the last resort, invoked only after every lawful and conciliatory avenue has been exhausted.”
He drew attention to Section 42(1)(a) of the Trade Disputes Act, which allows withholding wages during strike periods, but said this clause must be understood alongside other provisions that ensure strikes only occur after due process.
He also noted violations of Section 15 of the Labour Act, which mandates timely wage payments, accusing the government of selective enforcement that ignores “No Pay, No Work.”
Prince Adeyemi further cited Nigeria’s commitment to International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions affirming the right to strike as fundamental, warning that punitive actions against striking workers breach international labor standards.
“Government officials provoke strikes by neglecting their duties, then punish workers for responding,” Adeyemi said. “It is a profound hypocrisy that undermines social justice and the dignity of Nigeria’s workforce.”
Emphasizing the patriotism and resilience of Nigerian workers, Adeyemi called for institutionalizing collective bargaining as a peaceful and effective solution to industrial disputes.
While urging the government to respect agreements with unions and enforce labor laws fairly, Adeyemi challenged the government to live by “No Pay, No Work” to underscore the duty to honor workers’ rights.
The NASU General Secretary said: “When workers are treated fairly, strikes will become unnecessary.”
He recalled that over the years, “the phrase ‘No Work, No Pay’ has become a recurring instrument of intimidation in the hands of government officials in Nigeria. Whenever trade unions contemplate lawful industrial action, federal authorities are quick to brandish the so-called clause in Section 42(1)(a) of the Trade Disputes Act (Cap. T8, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004).
“This has been wielded not as a tool of justice or industrial harmony, but as a weapon to silence, criminalize, and delegitimize the genuine struggles of workers for fairness, dignity, and the fulfillment of agreements.
“Union leaders are not anarchists or agitators for chaos. Strikes are not impulsive or frivolous actions; they are the last resort, invoked only after every lawful and conciliatory avenue has been exhausted.
“Strikes, though disruptive, are often the inevitable response to Government’s own dereliction of duty, its failure to honour agreements, implement negotiated terms, and uphold the sanctity of labour laws.”
He contended that labelling workers’ legitimate struggles as acts of rebellion is to deny the very foundation of social justice, adding, “Every strike action represents accumulated frustration, a collective cry for respect, for fairness, for the basic human right to decent work and livelihood.”
On the issue of patriotism, Adeyemi said: “Let the truth be told: no one is more patriotic than the Nigerian worker.
It is the worker who builds, maintains, and sustains the nation, despite poor pay, unstable conditions, and unfulfilled promises.
“It is the children of workers who attend overcrowded public schools, not the children of high-ranking government officials who study in elite private or foreign institutions. It is the families of workers who bear the hardship of every industrial dispute, and the same workers who, when strikes are suspended, return diligently to clear the backlog and restore normalcy.”
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