Train Workers Urged to Go on Strike Over Staffing Crisis

Train service in Nigeria will be suspended as of today in support of a decision from the Nigerian Union of Railway Workers (NUR).

Workers said in a statement signed by NUR Secretary General Comrade Segun Esan yesterday that they decided to strike across the country after giving careful consideration to the current state of labor relations in the country and the negative response of the Federal Government to the tragic events in Owerri on November 1.

The union claimed that it had submitted copies of the statement to the Managing Director of NUR, the Commissioner of Police, and the Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.

In the document, it says:

The Nigeria Labour Congress issued the following statement on November 13, 2023: “Against the background of the violent physical assaults, illicit arrest and detention of President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comr. Joe Ajaero and many other workers at the Imo State NLC Secretariat, Owerri, by the Imo State Police Command, the Nigeria Labour Congress has convened a virtual National Executive Council (NEC) Meeting today Monday, November 13, 2023, and after exhaustive consideration of the nation’s sub

“In effect, therefore, all the workers of Nigerian Railway are duty-bound to join the nationwide strike action from the zero hours of Tuesday, November 14, 2023, by staying back at home and away from their offices while the NRC management and its security apparatus are enjoined to resume the spotlight to lock, secure and protect all the fixed and movable assets of the Corporation while the strike action lasts.

From midnight on Tuesday, November 14, 2023, until further order of the Congress, all Corporation offices, stations, workshops, and all other Corporation premises must be locked and unavailable.

The state and its coercive weapon have long had their teeth into Nigerian workers’ credibility and integrity; therefore, now is the time for all of us to rise up in strong and indivisible harmony to save the day.

Dare to take up your oppressors and succeed!