Labour advises FG to honour agreements to prevent strikes
October 22, 2012 19:35
Audio attached
Labour advises FG to honour agreements to prevent strikes
NAN-H-113
Strike
Abuja, Oct. 22, 2012(NAN) Union Leaders on Monday called on the Federal Government to honour agreements reached with them in order to put an end to the incessant strikes in the country.
Some of the union leaders told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that if government failed to redeem agreements reached with workers, labour unions would deploy strke as an option.
Mr Olakunle Olaitan, the National President, Association of Senior Civil Servant of Nigeria, said that strike was always the last option when all attempts to get government redeem agreements failed.
He noted that broken agreements always made strike inevitable.
`` If we both believed in negotiation, agreement and none us renege on it, there won’t be any need for strike.’’
According to him, most often than not, it is the break-down of agreement that usually leads to strike by the unions.
He pointed out that strike would become inevitable when insincerity comes into play during negotiations.
`` In any society, once there is break of agreement and when people are not working their talk, it will surely bring reaction and the end result is incessant strike. ’’
Olaitan stressed that there were certain conflict resolution mechanisms that could be adopted by government rather than running to Industrial Court to stop strike.
Mr Emma Ugboaja, Head of Administration, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), told NAN that the Congress believed in talks and not strike.
``There is no way we are going to stop strike if people are not listening to us.
``If you write 10 letters and send reminders calling for discussions and nobody responded and it is only when you now write a warning letter that they now listen.
``The union believe in talk not strike but when they make it difficult for us to do our job, the next thing is for us to withdraw our services. ’’
Ugboaga said that as long as the government failed to appreciate the tripartite of social dialogue options, strike would still be an option in the country.
Dr Lawal Tahir, former President, National Association of Resident Doctors, National Hospital chapter, told NAN that strike should be the last option in labour disputes.
He said that government should not reduce itself to the level that it could not talk to labour ‘’until labour goes on strike’’.
``After strike, can you bring back those lives that were lost during the strike?
``Strike has been because government allowed it and I don’t think strike should have come in the first place if government was alive to its responsibilities. ’’
Tahir explained that the health sector only considered strike because of the inability of government to redeem parts of its agreement with the health workers.
He, however, pointed out that resident’s doctors had no issues with the government for now as some of their demands had already been met.
The National President of the Medical and Health Workers Union, Mr Ayuba Wabba, also blamed the government particularly the Ministry of Health for lack of industrial harmony in the health sector.
He said that the situation ought not to be so in the health sector given its essential nature.
Wabba hoped that the strike would be a lesson for employers, stressing that it was better to always ‘’jaw-jaw than to war-war’’.
``It has been very difficult getting the Federal Ministry of Health to respect collective bargaining agreements; this has necessitated two major strikes by Joint Health Sector Unions this year.
``It took the intervention of the Federal Ministry of Labour and the National Industrial Court for parties to resume negotiations.''
Meanwhile, the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu, in his reaction to the allegation, said the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan was labour-friendly by action, interventions and by policy.
Wogu noted in some cases, unions embarked on strike when dialogue was still ongoing.
He said that the issue of strike was a global phenomenon, adding that the government had never violated terms of agreements insinuated in some quarters.
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``Be it as it may, we have not violated the terms of agreements as being speculated.
`What could have happen in some case is that dialogue is still ongoing and once there is dialogue you cannot say there is utter violation of the agreement. And the parties in these agreements, we are still talking in some instances.
``So, it is totally wrong, misconceive and misconstrue that the strikes that are embarked by the unions are by collectively bargained agreement. ’’
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The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalled that the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities had threatened a nation-wide strike if the 2013 budget did not capture its members’ allowances.
The National Vice President, South East chapter of the union, Mr Chike Omeje, had told NAN in Nsukka, Enugu State, that the allowances were part of the 2009 agreement between the union and government.(NAN)
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