Incessant strikes

THE rash of industrial actions that have
disfigured the Nigerian landscape in
recent times is yet another indication of
the way in which the exception has
become the norm. At present, both the
Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics
(ASUP) and the Academic Staff Union of
Universities (ASUU) are on strike. A
three-day warning strike of the National
Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas
Workers (NUPENG) was only recently
called off.
The reasons for these strikes are well-
known. The most prominent one is the
failure of the Federal Government to
abide by agreements reached in previous
negotiations with the unions. Other
reasons include the lack of a conducive
working environment due to dilapidated
infrastructure, police harassment and
victimisation by management.
While there can be no doubt that the
right to withhold labour is an accepted
strategy of legally-recognised unions, the
profusion and frequency of wide-ranging
industrial actions is a worrying
development. The disruption they cause
is profound, and can lead to extensive
inconvenience, suffering and even loss of
life.
The brief NUPENG strike, for example, led
to lengthy queues in petrol stations all
across the country, a sharp rise in
transport costs, and a virtual shutting-
down of cities like Abuja and Kaduna. In a
similar fashion, the ten-week old ASUP
strike has rendered thousands of
students idle and thus more vulnerable to
participation in anti-social activity. The
recently-declared ASUU strike will only
worsen this lamentable trend.
While these strikes go on, Nigeria
continues to miss opportunities, waste
time and effort, and stagnate as vital
sectors of national life are put on hold.
The suspension of tertiary education as a
result of the ASUP and ASUU strikes will
result in the suspension of all teaching
and a great deal of research and
community service. Conferences,
workshops and seminars that were
previously planned will no longer take
place. Staff and students will become
more disillusioned and cynical, and
therefore become more likely to cut
corners.
Given the enormous cost of industrial
actions to the socio-economic wellbeing
of the country, it is surprising that the
Jonathan administration does not do
more to ensure that they are reduced to
the barest minimum. Almost all strikes
follow the same depressing pattern: a
union issues a strike warning, demanding
that government meet with it to
negotiate on crucial issues; government
ignores both the invitation and the
deadline, only to call for negotiations
when the strike is in full swing.
The pattern is so predictable that a few
confidence-building measures would be
sufficient to reverse the trend. Since
negotiations with the unions are
inevitable, it makes no sense for
government to wait until its hand is
forced. Indeed, such tactics smack of
arrogance and insensitivity which only
make the unions even more determined
to press their case with all the weapons
at their disposal.
It is time for both the Federal
Government and the unions to evolve a
new paradigm to counteract the vicious
cycle of strikes besetting the nation. One
way is to draw up a code of conduct
outlining the steps and procedures which
must be followed by all parties. Once an
industrial dispute is declared, there could
be a specified number of days or weeks
within which negotiations must be held.
Another strategy might be the institution
of a "cooling-off" period, in which all
parties to the dispute must agree to
maintain the status quo while the issues
are being looked into. There could also be
a mechanism for sanctioning government
officials whose actions or statements
exacerbate labour disputes. If ministers
and civil servants realise that they have a
stake in ensuring industrial peace, strikes
might become a less prominent feature of
Nigerian life.
Source: The nation