FG seeks sustained industrial harmony in public service

THE Federal Government has said the improvement in work conditions and welfare workers remains paramount to the current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, urging workers at all levels in the public service to ensure sustained industrial harmony.

Permanent Secretary, Service Welfare Office, Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Didi Walson-Jack, said this at the meeting of the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council held in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital.

She noted that the importance of workers welfare and well-being was underscored by its inclusion as one of the eight priorities areas in the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan 2017-2020.

The Permanent Secretary said the Federal Government would continue to make positive efforts to improve the welfare and conditions of service of public servants.

Walson-Jack said: “I, therefore, urge you to give government at all levels the necessary support and cooperation towards ensuring industrial peace and harmony in the Service.

“In this regard, both Government and Trade Union sides are called upon to continuously collaborate and embrace the principles of collective bargaining and mutual respect at all meetings.

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“I also encourage you to embrace the tenets of integrity, merit, performance and transparency in the conduct of Government business in consonance with the ethics of the public service and for the overall national interest,” she said.

She also called on the participants to sustain their commitment to Council in order to realise an improved public service through constructive contributions to the issues at stake, with a view to making far-reaching decisions that would impact positively on the service and its workers.

She said it her expectation that the meeting would not only be stimulating and participatory but would be an opportunity for a re-evaluation of any unresolved issues and all other matters at stake, saying this could be done by contributing positively and arriving at resolutions that would strengthen employer-employee relations, enhance workers’ productivity and complement governments’ efforts in national development.

She noted that the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Winifred Oyo-Ita, deliberately approved the theme: “Sustaining Industrial Harmony in the Public Sector: An Imperative for Achieving Federal Government Change Agenda for National Development” to underscore the great importance attached to the welfare of workers.

She disclosed that a number of initiatives have been introduced by the government to support the workers including an exit management programme for officers in the Federal Civil Service with its components as pre-retirement training scheme and post-retirement service scheme.

The Pre-Retirement training is to prepare Civil Servants for a seamless transition by supporting them to acquire skills that would enable them to earn an income whilst in Service and beyond, which had been piloted by about 200 staff and full implementation would commence shortly.

Others welfare initiatives include the Federal Integrated Staff Housing (FISH) programme designed to provide quality and affordable housing for civil servants, introduction rewards and recognition system as well as the integration of workers living with disabilities for which a survey conducted by the Office of the Head of Service would be launched on 3rd December 2018.