The Kaduna State Government and the Nigeria Labour Congress have reached an agreement on the plan by the state government to lay off workers.

The NLC has since Monday led workers to protest against the plan by the Kaduna government to lay off the workers.

The late Thursday agreement between the two parties was brokered by the federal government in Abuja.

Part of the agreement was that the Kaduna government will follow due process and the“principle of redundancy,” as stipulated in Section 20 of the Labour Act, in its Public Service Revitalization and Renewal Programme, which is expected to lead to the retrenchment and sack of workers.

The parties also agreed that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) twill no longer continue with its industrial action while no worker shall be victimized by the state government on account of his or her participation in the industrial action.

The Kaduna State Government had earlier announced the sack of hundreds of university teachers and nurses for joining the strike. That announcement is expected to be reversed.

A 10-member bi-partite committee comprising six representatives of the Kaduna State Government, three officials of the NLC, and one of the federal labour ministry was also set up to engage further on how to execute the agreement and ensure that the state government adhered to the principle of redundancy.

The meeting

The Thursday meeting was called by the labour minister, Chris Ngige, to put an end to the strike and protest by the NLC over the Kaduna government’s plan to sack workers.

In the agreement signed by both parties and the representative of the federal government, it was resolved that it is the right of an employer to retrench workers. But in doing so, due process, especially the principle of redundancy, must be followed strictly.

“It was resolved that the principle of redundancy as stated in section 20 of Labour Act, Cap L 1 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) should apply,” the agreement reads.

The agreement was signed by Bariatu Mohammed, Head of Service, Kaduna State; Ayuba Wabba, President NLC; Ja’afaru Sani, Commissioner of Local Government Kaduna State; Najeem Usman, Deputy President NLC; Omoabie Akpan, Director Trade Union Services and Industrial Relations; and Muoneke Aloy, Director Finance and Accounts, representing the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Labour.

The Agreement

The agreement reads as follows: “Following the three days industrial action embarked upon by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on the 17th of May, 2021 in Kaduna State, the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment apprehended the industrial dispute by holding an emergency conciliation meeting between the Kaduna State Government (KDSG) and NLC to deliberate on the following contentious issues as alleged by the NLC.