The Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong, has lamented that past industrial actions by labour unions have had adverse effects on the country’s economy.
The minister stated this in his opening remarks as the scheduled meeting with the leaders of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) in effort to stop them from embarking on another industrial action commenced in Abuja on Monday.
He promised to partner with labour to address the demands of the labour unions in a just and balanced way.
He appealed to the labour leaders to be realistic and frank in the discussions.
The minister also expressed optimism that the meeting will lead to a resolution that will be of national interest.
In his response, the President of the NLC, Joe Ajaero, said his team is in the meeting with mixed feelings, whether something will happen or not, as many similar meetings in the past never yielded any positive response.
He also noted that the past strikes that the minister referred to were as a result of the frustration Nigeria workers face due to the effect of the hardship occasioned by the removal of subsidy.
He also noted that not one of the agreements with the FG has been addressed despite series of meetings that have been held.
He also condemned the invasion of the office of the Nigeria Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), leading to the arrest and detention of some of its leaders.
According to him, that action alone is enough for the NLC to proceed with their planned strike.