FG Committed to Using Dialogue to Resolve Labour Disputes, Says Minister

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

The federal government has said it will continue to promote social dialogue as a tool for resolving disputes and improving workplace conditions in Nigeria.

Minister of Labour and Employment, Alhaji Maigari Dingyadi, stated this while declaring open, the meeting of the National Executive Council of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) in Abuja on Thursday.

The minister said that government is mindful of the challenges being experienced across various sectors-ranging from economic pressures to workplace.

Dingyadi said: “As a ministry, we remain fully committed to fostering harmonious industrial relations, promoting decent work, and creating an enabling environment where workers and employers can thrive.

“We are mindful of the challenges being experienced across various sectors-ranging from economic pressures to workplace transformation driven by technology – yet we are equally encouraged by the resilience and professionalism of unions such as yours.

“This administration will continue to prioritize social dialogue as a tool for resolving disputes and improving workplace conditions”

The minister commended the association for always using constructive engagement in tripartite processes especially in matters of job security, labour standards, and workplace productivity-remains invaluable.

He said the ministry is committed to collaborating with labour unions, employers, and other stakeholders to strengthen policies that promote decent work, safeguard worker rights, and drive national productivity.

Earlier in his address, the ASCSN president, Comrade Shehu Mohammed, said the union has set machinery in motion toward implementing policies and programmes that help promote the interest of members all over the federation.

Apart from seeking to resolve the unnecessary bottlenecks created by the Pension Funds Administrators and Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) that do not remit the contributions to Pension Fund Custodians on time, he said the union is working on finding solution to the complaint by contributors that 25 percent lump sum paid to them on exiting service is grossly inadequate.

But the greatest complaint by contributors is that 25% lump sum paid to them on exiting service is grossly inadequate because it amounts to nothing under the present inflationary trend that make the meagre amount insufficient to do anything meaningful with it.

“The current request from many contributors is that the total money should be paid in bulk so that retirees who are adults can do any investment they desire with their money.

“The union is engaging the relevant stakeholders on our members demand that, the Contributory Pension Scheme law should be amended by introducing a new clause to the effect that contributors who wish to collect all their money in lump sum at once should be able to do so,” he said.

Mohammed also restated the union’s opposition to planned privatization of Federal Unity Schools in the country.

According to him, the union has maintained that “the Colleges should remain models for Secondary Education in Nigeria accessible to all Nigerian children irrespective of tribes and the economic status of their parents in line with the vision of the founding fathers”.

Regarding insecurity in the country, the union urged the federal government to rejig the security architecture in the country and reposition it to meet the aspiration of the citizens

Among the measures taken by the leadership of the union since assumption, include relocation of the national secretariat of the union from Lagos to Abuja for ease of administration and organizing.