ABUJA—As the Senate yesterday began consideration of President Olusegun Obasanjo’s bill to strip the Nigerian Labour Congress of its central role in organizing Nigerian workers, the legislative body also yesterday received a bill aiming to ban strikes in the health and educational sectors.
The bill, however, compels the authorities to review the working conditions of workers in the health and educational sectors every five years with proposals for sanctioning government officials who lead government into agreements that collapse.
Senator Ibiapuye Martins-Yellowe principal sponsor of the bill told Vanguard on telephone last night that he was not taking the right to strike from workers, but rather that he was protecting the right of the common man to get uninterrupted service in the country’s health and educational facilities.
Also yesterday, the Senate read for the first time, the Trade Union Act (Amendment Bill) 2004, the Federal Government’s bill which among others aims to strip the NLC of its central role in the organization of Nigerian workers.
Also read for the first time was an amendment bill seeking to amend the Trade Disputes (Essential Services) Act of 1976 to in part stop workers in the educational and health sectors from going on strike. The bill principally sponsored by Senator Martins-Yellowe was co-sponsored by Senator Dalhatu Tafida (PDP, Kaduna North).
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