Strike action: How workers halted activities at FCTA Secretariat

By Stanley Onyekwere

There was total grounding of activities within and around the Secretariat of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) as workers under the umbrella of the FCTA Joint Union Action Committee (JUAC) enforced an indefinite strike by locking and barricading the entrance to the FCTA Secretariat, in line with the directives from the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC).

Our correspondent reports that due to the intensity of road blockage, there was zero official public and auxiliary private business activities inside the FCTA Secretariat, in Garki Area 11, Abuja.

Also not spared were private businesses especially restaurants and other petty trading ventures within the environs of the  FCTA Secretariat, as many operators closed early while some failed to show up, due to low patronage as the strike action took place.

Explaining the action,  the President of FCTA JUAC, Mrs. Rifkatu Lortyer, stated that the union’s decision to lock the Secretariat aligns with the directives from the NLC and TUC.

A cording to her: “JUAC, being part of the labour unions, has no choice but to fully enforce the strike.

“My advice to FCTA workers is simple: stay at home and be the obedient workers you’ve always been. The strike action is for the interest of the Nigerian workers.”

It was observed that JUAC leadership led some aggrieved workers to strictly complied with the strike  action, which was declared last Friday, allegedly triggered by the Federal Government’s failure to increase the proposed minimum wage of N60,000 and its refusal to reverse the recent hike in electricity tariffs.

Also, NLC and TUC had instructed their members to strike indefinitely starting June 3, after the government did not meet the May 31 ultimatum for negotiations on a new national minimum wage.

And the strike, which follows a warning issued during the May Day celebrations, underscores the ongoing tensions between the government and labor unions over worker welfare and economic policies.

While reiterating the necessity of the strike action, TUC President Festus Osifo, maintained that the government’s refusal to adjust the minimum wage and roll back the increased electricity tariffs.

He said: “The strike has become necessary as the government declined to increase the N60,000 wage it offered during the recent meeting of the Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage,” Osifo explained.

“This action is also a response to the refusal of the government to reverse the hike in electricity tariff.”