By Fatima Mohammed-Lawal
Mr Issa Aremu, the Director General, Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS), Ilorin, has called for truce between the Federal Government and the organised labour to avert threat of strike.
Making the appeal in a statement issued on Thursday in Ilorin, Aremu observed that the organised labour’s threat to embark on industrial action is preventable.
He attributed the threat of strike to the attendant hardship of fuel subsidy withdrawal and other sundry economic issues.
He expressed optimism that the two parties would soon find a common ground to avert the looming industrial action.
The MINILS director-general also advised the federal government and labour unions, including the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), to return to a “rewarding negotiations and compromises” to prevent the strike.
He noted that actions of President Bola Tinubu in the last few months of his inauguration showed that he is concerned about the plight of every Nigerian.
Aremu added that the two Ministers of Labour have also expressed their readiness to sustain the ongoing negotiations with the organised labour.
“Strikes are just the means, not the end. The end is improved welfare for working men and women at these challenging times. I know that President Tinubu is concerned about the plight of all. His quotable quote is ‘let the poor breath’.
“The Honourable Minister of Labour, Simon Lanlong, and Minister of State Labour, Ikiru, have also demonstrated commitment to dialogue with NLC and TUC. Strikes are therefore preventable.
“I think both government and organised labour will soon find a common ground. Strike is certainly not inevitable, indeed it is preventable but through rewarding negotiations and compromises by the two parties,” Aremu said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the NLC had issued an ultimatum to the federal government to provide wage award, palliatives and other relief packages to the masses in view of the pain that characterised the removal of fuel subsidy. (NAN)
