The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has asked Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi state to stop using armed soldiers to intimidate striking workers and resort to dialogue to address all issues in contention between the workers and the government.
The President of NLC, Comrade Ayuba Wabba said in a letter to the governor that soldiers have no role in resolving an industrial dispute as every dispute generated by issues between employers and employees can only be resolved ultimately through dialogue.
Wabba said the Congress has received reports from its members in the state that government officials were going wrong the state with armed soldiers in an attempt to compel the workers to return to work without addressing their grievances, adding that such action will only aggravate the situation.
He said the NLC leadership will visit the state to address the workers and met with the governor with a view to addressing the issues on the dialogue table
The letter reads in part: “I convey warm compliments on behalf of the National Executive Council of the Nigeria Labour Congress and write to inform you that the national leadership will be coming to Lokoja to address workers who are currently on strike.
“We promise to thereafter meet with you as we still believe contentious issues can be resolved through dialogue based on mutual transparency and shared the concern for the survival of the workers, many of who are being owed backlog of salaries of between seven to twenty-one months.
“We have received reports that your officials have been going around offices in Company of armed soldiers in an attempt to compel striking workers to resume work rather than encourage productive dialogue that will amicably resolve all the issues that necessitated the strike.
“Apart from salaries, some of the issues that have attracted deep concern include the endless verification exercise which has raised so much suspicion that the exercise has been so prolonged to justify non-payment of salaries and pensions.
“Industrial relation is not politics and it won’t augur well for the government to accept advice driven by political considerations when clearly, the system provides adequate opportunities to engage in dialogue.
“On our part, we have always encouraged dialogue. We must face the reality of the frosty relationship between your government and workers, which has obviously been promoted by those who gain from the escalating industrial crisis through political considerations.
“We know that, with your background in public service, you are capable of handling the situation better but for those who act at the background, drawing political permutations with the plight of pensioners.
“We are ready to engage in transparent dialogue you with the ultimate benefit of nipping the industrial crisis in the state in the overall interest of industrial peace and justice. We shall communicate the date of our visit and proposed meeting with you as soon as Arrangement are concluded.
“However, in the present, we advise that your officials be cautioned against the use of armed soldiers to intimidate workers as the military has no role in resolving industrial dispute as every dispute generated by issues between employers and employees can only be resolved ultimately through dialogue.”
Credit: Nation
