The Senate Bill To Gag Labour

The heated debate at the Senate over a bill seeking to compel union leaders to secure the consent of their members through election before calling for a strike is understandable. The bill is ill-timed, ill-intentioned and must promptly be rejected.

The controversial bill was sponsored by Senator Heineken Lokpobiri who represents Bayelsa West at the Senate. Coming from President Goodluck Jonathan’s kinsman and in the wake of the successful anti-subsidy protests nationwide, the motive cannot be lost on discerning Nigerians.

The bill is anti-people and anti-democracy and should be thrown into the trash can where it belongs.

Senators in support of the bill argued that it is nothing new and labour unions in countries like the United States, Britain, Canada or South Africa already operate that way. They argued that often in Nigeria, four or five union leaders sit in a room and decide to embark on strike, most times, without the consent of the majority of their members. And workers who disagree with the union leadership, even if they are in the majority, are often intimidated and compelled to join the strike, the senators in support of the bill argued.

But if the new bill becomes law, they contended, strike actions called by labour unions will enjoy the support of their members and employers will be forced to negotiate with the employees after the vote which will send a clear signal to them that employees are united for the strike action. The process will be fair and transparent, they said. This is true democracy, they contended.

But senators opposed to the bill argued that it is an infringement on democratic rights of labour unions and it would be difficult to ask millions of workers to vote before embarking on a strike. They concluded that the real intention of the bill is to cage the labour unions and prevent them from embarking on strike even when unpopular decisions are taken by their employers.

We agree with those opposed to the obnoxious bill. Even though we believe that labour movement should never be a one-man show and labour unions should be democratic, it is our opinion that with the kind of callous government and heartless employers we have in Nigeria today, it will be too cumbersome to ask millions of workers to vote before embarking on strike.

It is true that some union leaders are very irresponsible and use their position to blackmail and make money from their employers for their selfish interests while the interest of the workers they are representing is relegated to the background. But we believe that most union leaders still gauge the mood of the workers and informally seek their approval before calling on a strike and that is enough for now.

We call on the Senate to focus on more important bills that will improve the lives of ordinary Nigerians instead of wasting time on irrelevant matters. They are being paid jumbo salaries while the majority of Nigerians are stuck in squalor and pressed hard by hunger and sickness.

The reason unions call for strike actions in the first place is because of the harsh environment we live in and the inequality in the society. Some of the Senators, with their fat bank accounts and with their palaces in Abuja and their cornucopia or cars and aides, seem to have lost touch with ordinary Nigerians who go to bed every night famished.