Members of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) are preparing to go on indefinite strike in Lagos over the indefinite suspension of one of its affiliates, the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN).
Festus Osifo, president of the TUC, informed journalists in Abuja that the union will launch a major demonstration in the state on Monday.
According to him, the Lagos state government had technically proscribed RTEAN in the state which led to taking over the motor parks and locked the office.
The comrade alleged that despite numerous letters to the state government, no action had been taken to resolve the concerns raised by a court decision in 2022 to overturn the state government’s suspension order which resulted in a deadly clash among its members,
“We are going to carry out a protest in Lagos once again on Monday, then after that protest we would see when there is no solution in sight then, there is going to be a total shutdown in Lagos state because for us this is clearly not acceptable,” he said.
Osifo bemoaned the failure of mechanisms for peaceful resolution of the situation, stating that the TUC had used all appropriate means of engagement, including letters and meetings with the government of Lagos State.
“As a law-abiding centre, we told our affiliate to approach the court, so they approached the national industrial court and a judgement came on the 28th day of April 2023. In that judgement, it was expressly stated that their offices should be opened and that the Lagos state government doesn’t have the right to proscribe any union.
“The judgement of the court was not complied with, so we now decided to write to Lagos state government trying to push them to enforce the decision of the court but unfortunately they did not yield to this,” said Osifo.
He added that in order for them to carry out a successful protest in Lagos on Monday, they have informed the Director General of Department of State Service (DSS), the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the National Security Adviser (NSA) to provide them with adequate security.