The leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress has been urged by the Federal Government to postpone its scheduled two-day warning strike, set to commence on Tuesday.
According to The PUNCH, Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong, made an appeal in Abuja on Monday.
He acknowledged the reversal of the FG’s prior progress as one of the factors contributing to the appeal. Given sufficient time to establish themselves in the position, they also pledged to address the NLC’s numerous concerns in a comprehensive manner.
Lalong said, “It has become pertinent to appeal to the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to suspend its intended two-day warning strike, as such action would be detrimental to the gains already being recorded on our course to securing a greater future for Nigerian workers and citizens at large.
“Furthermore, I would request that the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress gives this government some time to settle and address the issues on the ground holistically.
“It should be realised that the cabinet of this administration was only recently sworn in by Mr. President and all cabinet members have hit the ground running by receiving briefings from their MDAs.
“Therefore, the issues raised by the leadership of the NLC are some issues that I and the Hon. Minister of State for Labour and Employment are being briefed upon. In the next few weeks, we intend to address them holistically.
“Consequently, I use this opportunity to reassure Nigerian workers that this government would never take them for granted nor fail to appreciate their support and understanding.
We will continue to pursue measures that will generate a significant amount of jobs across all economic sectors and examine any recent problems brought on by government actions. We can’t accomplish this without an environment of industrial peace, he continued.
The minister added that although the ministry had not yet received from the NLC the notification of the planned strike needed by law, the ministry would be meeting with the labour leaders on Monday at 3 p.m. with the goal of putting an end to the strike.
