Senator Adams Oshiomhole, representing Edo North, has said that the right of workers to associate is not only constitutional but also a God-given entitlement.
Speaking on Arise Television’s Morning Show on Friday, the former president of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, described freedom of association as a core value that must be respected.
The statement comes amid the recent trade dispute between Dangote Refinery and Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN.
Oshiomhole explained that both employers and employees have rights under trade union laws, including the freedom to join or refuse to join unions.
He, however, expressed concern about PENGASSAN escalating its dispute with the Dangote Refinery to the point of threatening a shutdown of the oil sector.
He cautioned that while unions are mandated to defend workers’ rights, such actions should not endanger the jobs of others in the industry.
He said: “It is a very complex issue. On a good day, you know, I want to discuss it my honest opinion in public, because what can easily be misunderstood, this is my life. I am a labor man from the age of 18 up to becoming president of the NLC. I believe that it is not even constitutional right. It is a God given right for human beings to associate in pursuance of their common interest, as defined by them. These are hard core values iam subscribed to, and they also were guaranteed the Nigeria constitution under Section 40. I have to be careful, because I know you quote law most of the time.
“The other is the trade union right recognizes the trade union laws recognizes the right of an employee to belong to a union, and we did battle over many years whether it should be your right to contract in or you contract out, because the problem with the freedom of association is that it also includes the freedom to refuse to associate with a particular association, which is the way you balance it, otherwise it becomes something obligatory that you cannot contract out from. So the employer has his right, the employee has his right.
“I do not have all the details. And when you have arguments such as, which is not strange to me, why an employee is relieved of his duty and why union believed the process was unfair or unjust, because union business is basically based on fairness as defined by them.
“But what I’m not sure is right, is the ease with which Ferguson resorted to escalating the manner to a secondary level, what you call the secondary solidarity, to a point of shutting down the oil sector. I think that we seek it to protect a particular set of workers you do not, then risk the job of several other workers. Now, how you draw the balance message? “
It’s God’s given right – Oshiomhole takes position on Dangote refinery, PENGASSAN disputes