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Akinwande Soji-Ojo
The National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) has said that its members, who are mainly commercial drivers, would not participate in the organised labour’s planned indefinite strike, saying that the strike was “ill-timed and in bad faith.”
Acting National President of the union, Alhaji Tajudeen Agbede, disclosed NURTW’s position after an emergency meeting with all the state chairmen, secretaries and treasurers in Abuja.
He said after reviewing the situation, members decided to back out of the proposed NLC strike, adding that the timing of the planned strike “is not in tandem with the current economic realities.”
“Our members are going through a lot of hardship, so participating in any strike will create more harm for our members.
“We felt the strike will not serve any purpose to our members who are mostly commercial drivers who are operating in an informal sector of the economy. We are not salary earners. Ours is work and eat. Our members depend mainly on what they make from their daily operations. So, to embark on any strike action will have serious negative impacts on our members’ daily earnings
“Again, there are some members who purchase their vehicles through hire purchase options, and these category of people are mandated to make repayment either on daily or weekly basis, so any strike action will affect the repayment agreement and the company or dealer or banks that gave out vehicles will not take any excuse,” he said.
Agbede appealed to the organised labour to give the government enough time to work out modalities on the best way out, stressing that going on strike now will only compound the problems.
He urged commercial drivers to disregard the planned industrial action by going about their daily operations and to report anybody who tries to force them to join the strike to law enforcement agencies.