Currently serving as the Regional Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), South-South, Christopher Chukwudi Onyeka had earlier served as Assistant General Secretary and Head of Media/Information and International Relations of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC); Acting General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Deputy General Secretary of the now defunct United Labour Congress of Nigeria (ULC).
Comrade Onyeka, a marketing consultant, tax expert, activist and labour unionist, who comes with a loaded antecedent of labour activism, had also served on the TUC Political Commission, a 21-member commission that is a essentially a socio-economic infrastructure designed to creatively generate vehicles for the TUC to respond to Politics generally.
The unionist, who also served as Assistant Project Manager on the Domestic Election Monitoring Team in 2011, of which the TUC was a major partner with the National Democratic Institute (NDI) on their 2011 Election Monitoring efforts in Nigeria; and member of the Network on Police Reforms in Nigeria and Help HIV/AIDS Network, spoke with the Publisher of Kristina Reports, Godswill Jumbo in a telephone interview on the industrial crisis at the Train 7 project site of Daewoo Engineering and Construction Nigeria Limited involving the National Association of Plant Operators (NAPO). Enjoy the read!
Kristina Reports: We are following developments at the Daewoo site in Bonny, and we understand that the NLC has intervened to negotiate on behalf of the workers and one Mr. Chris Brown is your representative there. We’re told that he is the Chairman of NLC Bonny Branch.
Christopher Onyeka: Bonny Branch? My brother that’s not true oh; NLC has not intervened, NLC is not directly involved in that matter, and we don’t have officers in such places like Bonny or Port Harcourt Branch. No, we don’t have, that’s not part of our structure, we don’t have anything like that.
But you have state and local government structure…
No, we have a state structure, you can see that in Rivers State, we have Beatrice Itubo as our Chairperson, and she has a retinue of excos that administers the whole thing with her.
Are you saying there’s no local government branch?
Yes, we have not activated it. We have it in our constitution but we have not activated it.
Is it only Rivers State or the whole 36 states?
The whole 36 states, we have not activated it in anywhere.
No local government branch or chapter?
No, we have not, that’s what I’m telling you; so, nobody like local government chairman of NLC or Bonny Chairman of NLC, that’s not possible.
Secondly, we understand NUCECFWW was suspended by NLC, is that correct?
NUCECFWW? No! NUCECFWW has not been suspended by NLC, for what na? and, in fact, I have a programme this morning, of intervention in NUCECFWW matter, somewhere in Lagos. We were working with them actually in NLC at the national level. So, we don’t have any issues with NUCECFWW at the national body, unless they have issues in Rivers State.
It’s in Rivers State, we heard that in Rivers State, NUCECFWW was suspended, so, we wanted to know the status of the suspension, if it has been lifted or it’s still ongoing.
My brother, that is their wahala in Rivers State, it doesn’t concern us and you cannot suspend NUCECFWW as a union. The State Chapter of NLC does not have power to suspend NUCECFWW as a union, probably, they have suspended the Chairman of NUCECFWW in Rivers State from their exco, you understand, but not the union.
So, you can suspend an individual but not the union?
Not the union, yes, they may have suspended the chairman who is a member of the exco in Rivers State. So, the SEC in Rivers State may have in their ways suspended the chairman for one reason or the other which I don’t know about, you understand? So, that’s the way it works. But you can’t suspend the union, the union is bigger than an individual.
Finally, on the issue of the protest against DAEWOO by NAPO, so far, what is the position of NLC on that issue?
NLC has not been informed formally by NUCECFWW, which is our affiliate. It is important that you understand that the Nigerian Labour Congress protects the rights of every worker all over Nigeria whether they are organised into a union or not. The most important element that distinguishes them from other Nigerians is that they are workers. If the person is a worker, the Nigerian Labour Congress is determined to protect that person. However, if they are in a group, better for us, whether you are operating as a union or not a union, it’s our responsibility to protect them wherever they are, especially, against all foreign companies that are choosing to underrate their rights at will. It’s our responsibility, we never shy away from things like that. First of all, we ask which union do you belong to, if there is no union, then we take it upon ourselves to do the needful. We become their union, we become their voice and their protector and their defender; that is what we do as a responsible labour centre.
We understand NAPO is not an affiliate of NLC, for the workers to choose to identify under NAPO, does it in any way deny them of the protection NLC can provide?
Well, it does not deny them of any protection. That is what we are saying that it is always better when workers are organised in a union. But if they are not organised into a union, it becomes even a cheaper responsibility of ours to protect their rights. But one thing is very, very clear, we have laws in Nigeria and the laws are very clear. If they say an association, for example, has applied for registration, as a trade union to the Registrar of trade unions, the law recognises that particular association. It confers on them immediately actual rights and those rights are enshrined in the Trade Union Act, Section 2 you know; beginning from section 2 to section 1 and all through you will see it. You’ll see how the law has said that once a union has applied – a union that is not registered cannot function as a union that is registered – but then, it says provided that the union will not be denied of taking any action possible, including collection of check-off dues and every other thing to ensure that it gets registration, meaning the law is open, allows the union that has applied for registration to actually act as a union, provided it has been justified that it’s doing that pursuant to its registration. You can see that entirely in those areas, and in the process of pursuance.
So, the law is very clear and the drafters of those laws were people of great wisdom. They understand that workers need to be protected and that is why they wrote those laws. But a lot of people have given it different interpretations for one reason or the other. I was in the United Labour Congress of Nigeria as the acting General Secretary, that’s a labour centre or rather it was a labour centre. It was a break-away faction of NLC, where I was acting General Secretary and we operated under that same umbrella, that same protection. It was that protection that gave us the right to be part of the National Minimum Wage negotiation. It was that section that gave us the right to collect check-off dues from our affiliates. It was that particular protection, that umbrella that gives us the coverage to attend ILO conferences throughout representing our affiliates. So, that particular law is very, very clear but people mischievously either for one reason or the other want to misinterpret it and that is not good.
Kristina Report please do findings and investigate before reporting in other not to bring your name to the mud
The person is an imposter and NLC has no such office.
Please do investigation from the Vice Chairman or Secretary of Rivers State council