The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has warned that any worker of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) who fails to resume work from Wednesday, January 28, will face disciplinary action.
Wike issued the warning on Tuesday while briefing journalists at his office in Abuja, shortly after the National Industrial Court ordered FCTA workers to suspend their ongoing strike.
“From tomorrow if you don’t come to work we are going to apply the big stick, and from tomorrow if we see anybody who says he wants to block the gate, we will make you a scapegoat. The law must take its place,” the minister said.
He disclosed that the FCT administration has held meetings with the labour unions and that all their grievances had been presented and discussed. According to him, security agencies and FCT management had made several attempts to dialogue with the unions, but the efforts did not yield results.
Wike suggested that the strike action went beyond the workers’ stated demands, noting that most of the issues raised had already been addressed.
“I mean, if the workers made 14 demands and the government has addressed 10 out of it, what then is the issue?” he asked.
FCTA workers commenced an indefinite strike last week, citing the authorities’ failure to address long-standing labour and welfare demands. The action led to the shutdown of activities across major government offices in Abuja, disrupting public services in the nation’s capital.
In response to the strike, the FCT administration, under Wike, instituted legal action against the Joint Unions Action Committee (JUAC), seeking an order to compel the workers to return to work.
On Tuesday, the National Industrial Court in Abuja ordered the workers to suspend the industrial action. Delivering the ruling, the presiding judge, Emmanuel Subilim, held that while the dispute before the court qualified as a trade dispute, the right of workers to embark on industrial action was not absolute.
The judge ruled that once a matter has been referred to the National Industrial Court, any ongoing strike must cease pending the final determination of the case.
