The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) says contrary to claims by the Minster of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige that it was illegal for aggrieved Nigerian workers to lock-out government officials, labour laws recognizes lock-out and picketing as a tool for the advancement of their demands.
The President of NLC, Ayuba Wabba stated this on Thursday at the 11 Quadrennial National Delegate Conference of the Nigeria Civil Service Union (NCSU) in Abuja.
According to him;
"I think what the Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige needs to say is that workers and trade unions must follow lay down procedures but not to say it cannot happen.
It is a legal issue, issue of picketing, lock-out are already accommodated in our legal book of the Trade Union Act. A worker or an employee is not a slave. The difference between a worker and employer is that he can exercise some rights and those rights are in our law.
So, they are there in the law, but you must follow some procedures before embarking on such action because it is there for a purpose,‘’ he said.
