Anti-NLC Bill: Workers Head for Court Civil Society Groups Plan Rally.

(From This Day (Nigeria) - AAGM)

Byline: Lilian Okenwa, Juliana Taiwo And Ndubuisi Ugah

Trade union associations yesterday initiated judicial moves to stop the Federal Government from enacting a law that would kill their umbrella organisation, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC). The move was against the backdrop of plans by civil society groups to stage a mass rally on Tuesday, next week.

In Abuja, rights activist and lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, approached a vacation judge, Justice Hussein Yusuf Baba of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) high court, seeking leave to enforce the fundamental rights of workers.

Simultaneously in Lagos, activist groups on the platform of Civil Society Coalition (CSC), announced that a rally will on Tuesday hold at the National Assembly premises in Abuja, to denounce a Labour reform bill by President Olusegun Obasanjo, currently before the legislature. The bill, which proposes an amendment to the Trade Union Act, will decentralise the NLC if passed.

Falana, who represents the workers, yesterday …