Despite concerns by the government and other relevant stakeholders, courts across the country have remained shut since April 6, 2021, when Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria members began their strike to press for financial autonomy of the judiciary.
Last week, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige hinted the possibility to end the JUSUN and PASAN strikes after meeting with their leaders. But the strike has lingered, leaving at its trail sad tales. Strike as a means by which employees exert pressure on their employers to accede to their demands has a longstanding history.In Nigeria, the first strike was recorded on June 21, 1945, after failure of protracted presentations to the government for salary increase.
The main purpose of collective bargaining is to obtain a binding contract, an agreement between the union and management, which may include a no-strike clause, which prevents strikes, or penalises the union and/or the workers if they walk out while the negotiation is on and the contract is still in force.
Similarly, in Cooperative and Commerce Bank Ltd. v. Okonkwo 15 NWLR 114, the employee’s appointment was terminated based on the provision of a CBA. A former President of Nigerian Bar Association , Dr. Olisa Agbakoba said, strike is not a constitutional issue but a labour related one used to bring about change in the condition of employment and resolution of grievances.According to the human rights activist, strike is less legal than is the power of the unionists to express themselves using their numbers.
“To that extent, there is a little law involved but there are many cases where in spite of the courts granting an injunction, labour will still not obey the injunction, that is why I feel that law has little role to play in strikes because you cannot force a person to work,” he added. “For instance, the N30, 000 minimum wage, though many states are not paying it but it has been as a result of the power of labour that the position was arrived at,” he said.
“I think, restructuting will help to give us a new direction in terms of labour- government relations,” he added. “From experience, the workers would give the government notice spanning over days and yet, nothing will be done until the actual strike has been declared or commenced.