FG appeals to NLC to call off warning strike

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has been urged by the federal government to halt its two-day warning strike that is currently scheduled.

On Monday in Abuja, Simon Lalong, the minister of labour and employment, issued the call.

The strike, according to Lalong, would be harmful and undo the progress the government has already made.

He also requested that the NLC give the new administration some time to get organised and deal with the problems brought up by the union.

“It has become necessary to appeal to the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) leadership to suspend its intended two-day warning strike, as such action would be detrimental to the gains already being recorded on our path to securing a better future for Nigerian workers and citizens at large,” Lalong said.

Furthermore, I’d want to ask the Nigeria Labour Congress leadership to give the current administration some time to settle in and deal with the local problems comprehensively.

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The newly appointed minister said that he had been briefed on the problems brought up by the NLC leadership and that the federal government planned to address them comprehensively in the coming weeks.

Lalong, however, reassured the Nigerian workers that the government would not take them for granted and would continue to pursue policies intended to generate a significant amount of new jobs, stressing that the government could not accomplish this in the presence of widespread industrial discontent.

Because of this, I would like to assure Nigerian workers that their government would never take them for granted or fail to value their cooperation and understanding.

In addition to looking into the immediate issues brought on by the government’s policies, we will continue to promote policies that aim to generate significant employment across all economic sectors. In the absence of industrial peace, we are unable to accomplish this.

A meeting with labour leaders would be called on Monday afternoon to try to prevent the strike, the minister added, adding that the ministry had not received information of the planned strike from the NLC as required by law.