Senate President launches into trouble-shooting meeting with striking NASS workers

Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, has been forced to summon a meeting with the striking staff members of the National Assembly.

Operating on the platform of Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN), the National Assembly staff members had, beginning from last Sunday, begun an indefinite strike that led to the complete shutdown of the National Assembly.

The meeting summoned by the Senate President with the leadership of PASAN was scheduled to start at 4 pm on Friday.

The mediatory move, THE CONCLAVE reports, was to take advantage of Friday being the only working day that the political leadership of the National Assembly could meet with them before resumption of plenary Tuesday, next week.

Monday next week has been declared public holiday to commemorate this year’s Democracy Day.

The strike by PASAN, which is in its fifth day today, Friday, has been effective, leading to the complete shutdown of the National Assembly Complex.

THE CONCLAVE reports that the entrance to the National Assembly complex is blocked and nobody can gain entrance into the public facility.

Besides, THE CONCLAVE reports that sources of power and light to the complex have been cut off.

A Task force constituted by PASAN, is reportedy on the premises of the NASS complex monitoring compliance.

As of Thursday, PASAN’s strike was joined by the legislative aides who are also being owed their salaries and allowances.

On Thursday, PASAN had issued a notice to its members reinforcing its clarion call to be steadfast.

Entitled “GREAT PASAN!”, the Assistant Public Relations officer of the Association, Comrade Amos Enobong, JP, said: “Respected Members, on behalf of the Union, I congratulate you on the successes we have recorded so far since the beginning of our industrial actions against the management of the National Assembly over non-implementation of our condition of service in full.

“Tomorrow, 9th June, 2022 is Day 4 of the strike. Please you are expected to come out en masse with your mats to the NATIONAL ASSEMBLY GATE by 6.00am, to press home our demand for full implementation of our MOU and conditions of service.

“By the grace of God, we shall be heard and our demands granted.

“Great PASAN…Service for Democracy”

THE CONCLAVE reports that the sheer will of the workers to sustain the strike has forced the Senate President to intervene, having become apparent that the administrative leadership of the National Assembly has failed to resolve the dispute.

Recall that PASAN had issued the strike notice on Sunday in a statement issued by its Secretary General, Hammed Awobifa.

In the statement entitled “PASAN Declares Indefinite Strike to Demand Full Implementation of the Revised Conditions of Service (2018),” the association stated that the industrial action was coming after three notices to the management led by the Clerk to the National Assembly, Amos Ojo, within three weeks.

The statement read: “The Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria, National Assembly Service Commission and National Assembly (chapters), at its joint congress meeting(sic) of 2nd June, 2022, resolved to embark on an indefinite strike over the failure of the National Assembly management to implement the subsisting MoU jointly signed by NASC and NASS management and PASAN on the 13th of April, 2021.

“PASAN had issued a communiqué on the 28th March, 2022, where it demanded full implementation of the subsisting MoU and the Revised Conditions of Service. It also notified the National Assembly management of 21 days, 14 days and 7 days service of notice for industrial action if by 31st May, 2022, National Assembly Management failed to comply with the congress resolution.”

PASAN listed the items in the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the parties to include 24 months’ arrears of minimum wage/consequential adjustment in which the management paid only 16 months, leaving a balance of eight months and 13 days; and full implementation of the Conditions of Service in the MoU signed in April 2021, to which implementation had started but stopped.

“In view of this unfortunate development, the Association is embarking on an indefinite Strike commencing from 12 midnight on Sunday 5th June, 2022,” the statement added.