Strike threat: DG expresses optimism of truce between Government, labour unions

The Director General, Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS), Ilorin, in Kwara State Comrade Issa Aremu, says he is optimistic of a truce between the federal government and organised labour despite the threat to embark on industrial action over the hardship of fuel subsidy withdrawal and other issues.

He said the two parties would soon find a common ground to avert the looming strike action.

Aremu made this known in a statement issued in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, North Central Nigeria and titled “Strikes Not Inevitable Preventable”.

The MINILS Director General said the Federal Government and labour unions including the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) need to return to what he identified as ‘rewarding negotiations and compromises’ to prevent strike action as the last resort from the organised labour.

He noted that the actions of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the last few months of his inauguration showed that he was 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 organized 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 breathe”.

The Honourable Minister of Labour, Simeon 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 NLC had issued an ultimatum to the federal government to provide wage awards, palliatives and other relief packages to the masses in view of the pain that characterised the removal of fuel subsidies.

Dominica Nwabufo