Health Association Seeks Additional Department In Government Organisation
The National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) has called for the consideration of industrial relations departments in all government agencies and private organisations.
The call was made in Abuja at the opening session of the 14th NANNM labour/induction workshop for labour unions of the Federal Health Institutions sector (FHIS), across the federation.
The workshop which would last for four days has the theme: “Building grassroots leadership capacity for managing modern trade unions in Nigeria”.
Former Chairman of NANNM-FCT, Mr Abdullahi Yahaya said the industrial relations department would serve as a mediator between government, management and employees.
Yahaya, who is also a former Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), FCT-council, said industrial relations if properly harnessed and used, would avert an industrial crisis.
“Unfortunately in many of our ministries, we don’t have that department, this department is supposed to be headed by a director, the function of the department is to interact with leaders of the industrial unions, and labour leaders in the organisation.
This department will be the one to set the agenda for peaceful negotiation, workers by nature will definitely have demands from their employers be it promotion, wages, hours of work, or equipment for work.
These are issues that will always come up between the two parties. The Department of industrial relations is that middleman that looks at the issues the workers are demanding and brings it up to the management.
So there should be a deliberate effort by factories, ministries and hospitals to have this department that will solely be responsible for labour issues and nip them in the bud to avert the crisis,” he said.
Director of Nursing Services, Mrs Francisca Okafor, Federal Ministry of Health, expressed happiness about the workshop and the success of the election that brought the labour leaders to power in their various organisations.
According to her, the labour leaders from the FHIS are starting well as the workshop will arm them with what they need and the kind of leadership they should exhibit for unionism.
She said that unionism was not to be quiet, unionism represented a professional group before the government and the management, adding that they had come, armed with the needed tools for a trade union.
Okafor urged the labour leaders to see themselves as serving in the place of Christ, the divine physician and the ultimate healer, irrespective of their belief.
“God has called us to be able to minister to people who are less privileged, this must be done in a conducive environment; we chose this profession in love to be able to minister well for the government and to give us support.
This is why I am happy these people are starting on a good note with the workshop, on how to negotiate better, to reach out, advise government and improve the working environment,” she stressed.
Secretary General/Registrar, Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN) Dr Farouk Abubakar, called on the participants to be attentive to every detail at the workshop to make them sound leaders.
Abubakar who was represented by Director Special duties in NMCN, Yahaya Sumi said that nurses did not only work in the hospital, but they should be able to also manage issues in their environment.
Former National Secretary of Forum, FHIS, and a Senior Lecturer in the nursing department, Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo State, Dr Ngozi Osunde urged the labour leaders to use the knowledge from the workshop wisely.
Osunde who is also the chairman of the occasion, advised the union leaders to always carry their members along in whatever agreement was reached with the employers, to achieve their aims.
Deborah Yusuf, Chairman, NANNM FCT-Council, who spoke on the theme, called on the inducted union leaders to always adopt the instrument of collective bargaining with management/employers.
According to her, collective bargaining strengthens and settles a lot of things, and they must always put themselves in order before any negotiation.
Earlier, the Chairman of FHIS, Nurse Morakinyo-Olajide Rilwan, decried the incessant assault on its members by patients, their relations and other health workers while discharging their duties.
He recommended that issues of assaults at the workplace should be handled with stringent measures and equal representation of people involved.
Rilwan said that any attempt to intimidate or unduly suppress its members shall henceforth no longer be accepted
NAN/Oyenike Oyeniyi
