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NATIONAL UNION OF TEXTILE, GARMENT AND TAILORING WORKERS AND NIGERIA KRAFT BAGS LIMITED (NATIONAL INDUSTRIAL COURT) H ON. JUSTICE (CHIEF) P.A. ATILADE PRESIDENT DR O.I. ODUMOSU MEMBER S.O. KOKU,ESQ. MEMBER DR. E.C. IWUJI MEMBER ALHAJI Z.M. BELLO MEMBER SUIT NO: NIC/8/78 DATE OF JUDGMENT 12th FEBRUARY, 1979 LABOUR LAW Gratuity or redundancy payment - Where not appropriate - When court will order payment of adequate compensation in lieu thereof. LABOUR LAW Lock-out of workers - Where employer called the police to drive out workers on baseless allegation - Whether amounts to a lock-out. LABOUR LAW Salaries-Power of employer to review or not to review - Discretionary nature of. LABOUR LAW Termination of appointment - Termination of workers' appointment following a lock-out - Whether justified. LABOUR LAW Trade union - Leadership of Trade Union - Attitude of - Need to be reasonable. TRADE UNION LAW - Trade Union-Leadership of-Attitude of - Need to be reasonable. ISSUES; 1. Whether there was a lock-out in the circumstances of this case. 2. Whether the termination of the appointment of the workers following the alleged lock-out was justified 3. Whether the workers were entitled to receive an increment in 1975. FACTS: There was a trade dispute between the Appellant (the Nigerian Kraft Bags Workers Union now part of the National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers, and the Nigeria -Kraft Bags Limited (the Respondent). Over workers' salary in lieu of notice and other benefits such as accrued leave and leave allowance. The Appellants objected to items (a) and (c) of the Award, namely - re-absorption of the workers and the grant of annual increment to them for 1975. A: the National Industrial Court, the Appellant maintained that its members were locked-: out without any justification by the Respondent, and that the consequent termination of appointment of the members was unjustified. They maintained further that their members were entitled to receive an annual increment in 1975 in accordance with the existing collective agreement. On THEIR part, the Respondent contended that the IAP's Award was in conformity with the Collective Agreement. As regard the withholding of the annual increment of 1975, that the respondent did not withhold the increment because the decision on the issue was at the discretion of the Respondent. It also claimed to have granted them successive increments to their salaries in 1975. HELD: (Granting severance pay to the Appellant): 1 On Whether action of employer in calling Police to drive out its workers on baseless allegation amounts to a lock-out - The action of an employer in calling the Police to drive out its workers on the basis of unsubstantiated allegations and suspicions amounts to a lock-out. 2 On Whether termination of appointment of workers following a lock-out is justified- Where an employer invites the Police to drive out its workers on the basis of substantiated allegations and suspicions in circumstances which amount to a lock-out. The termination of the appointment of the workers following the lock-out will be unjustified. 3 On Power of employer to review or not to review salaries - An employer has discretionary powers to review or not to review salaries annually. 4 On When court will order payment of adequate compensation in lieu of gratuity or redundancy payment - Where, as in this case, neither gratuity nor redundancy payment is appropriate in the circumstances of the particular case, the National Industrial Court will order the payment of adequate compensation which will be commensurate with the hardship suffered by workers whose appointments have been unjustifiably terminated by the employer. 5 On Need for trade union leadership to be reasonable - A responsible trade union leadership should be reasonable in its attitude. In this case, the court condemned the attitude of the General Secretary of the Appellant union in preventing the workers from resuming their employment after they were invited by the Respondent, thus resulting in permanent loss of gainful employment by the workers with its attendant suffering. HON. JUSTICE (CHIEF) P.A. ATILADE - PRESIDENT DR O.I. ODUMOSU - MEMBER S.O. KOKU,ESQ. - MEMBER DR. E.C. IWUJI - MEMBER ALHAJI Z.M. BELLO - MEMBER