Courts must defend the weak, not the powerful — NLC

*Urges court not to legalise wage slavery, criminalise strikes

By Victor Ahiuma-Young

President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Joe Ajaero, has charged the judiciary to stand firmly on the side of justice by protecting workers from exploitation, warning that neutrality in labour disputes often favours the powerful and entrenches injustice.

Speaking at the 4th International Labour Adjudication & Arbitration Forum (I-LAAF) organised by the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association, NECA, in Abuja, Ajaero cautioned that when courts undermine workers’ rights or delay justice, they risk eroding public trust and provoking industrial unrest.

According to him, “Courts must defend the weak against the strong. In the conflict between labour and capital, neutrality often sides with the status quo — and the status quo is exploitation.”

He warned against judicial decisions that, in his words, “legalise unfair dismissals, criminalise strikes, and uphold contracts that are chains of modern-day wage slavery.”

The NLC President stressed that access to labour justice remains critical in what he described as a rapidly changing world of work defined by precarious employment, union-busting and growing inequality.

He said,“We gather under the theme of access to labour justice. But we must admit that in nations like ours, labour justice sadly bends towards employers, whether public or private.”

Ajaero maintained that workers’ rights are not privileges granted by the ruling elite but fundamental human rights earned through struggle.

“True labour justice is not a gift from the powerful; it is not charity. It is a right wrested through struggle. Human rights are not something to be given; they are our property,” he stated.

He urged judges and arbitrators to properly interpret international labour conventions, particularly ILO Conventions 87 and 98 on Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining, and to uphold the right to strike as “a fundamental, inalienable human right, not a privilege to be bargained away.

“When the courts become venues for delay, technicalities and judgments that punish workers for organising, they do not build trust; they breed contempt. When justice is commodified and accessible only to those who can afford endless litigation, the judiciary abdicates its duty.

“What some call shortcuts, we call direct action, mass mobilisation and the legitimate collective power of the working class. When the doors of justice are barred, workers will find, and have always found, their own door.”

Ajaero also called on employers to promote awareness of labour rights among workers, noting that ignorance remains a major impediment to access to justice.

“To NECA and employers, we say: a system where workers have no faith in justice is a system primed for crisis. Unresolved grievances become strikes. Suppressed rights become unrest,” he said.

While commending NECA for organising the forum and reaffirming labour’s commitment to engagement, Ajaero insisted that industrial peace can only be sustained where justice is genuine and not skewed in favour of capital.

“We do not seek a passive referee. We need a vibrant, courageous, pro-people judiciary that stands as a shield for the working class,” he added.

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