Labour

NURTW: FG not undermining labour, government resolution —Ministry

The Federal Government has countered the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) over recent statement that the Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong, was engaging in action that could jeopardise the recent agreements reached between the organised labour and government.

Director of Information in the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Olajide Oshundun, in a statement, noted that the labour minister has given adequate and impartial attention to the ongoing National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) leadership crisis since assumption of office.

The statement also assured all parties in the dispute of the minister’s commitment to resolving the crisis.

The statement read, “Let it be reiterated that since assuming office and upon the dispute between the various groups within the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) being brought to his attention, the minister has given consistent, adequate and fair attention to the matter with a view to resolving it.

“Several meetings have been held to resolve the issue with representatives of the disputing groups and the efforts are still ongoing. Therefore, it is not correct to suggest that the minister is supporting any of the groups in the course of the negotiations.

“Members of the NURTW, the NLC and the entire labour movement should be assured that the minister, as chief conciliator, will continue to work with all parties to ensure that there is reconciliation, harmony and industrial peace.”

In the same vein, the minister has assured of the Federal Government’s continued protection of all categories of workers in all sectors and swift response to their calls and complaints.

He stated this in Abuja when he received the leadership of National Association of Medical and Dental Academics (NAMDA), led by its national president, Dr Nosa Lancy Orhue, on a courtesy call.

Lalong noted that the Federal Government has been taking stock of the peculiar needs and grievances of different categories of labour organisations and has been working to addressing them effectively.

He told NAMDA that measures to address their complaints and grievances was already on course and would be concluded to their satisfaction.

Earlier, the National president of NAMDA, Dr Nosa Lancy Orhue, had congratulated the minister on his appointment and pledged the support of the association to the Federal Government in salvaging medical education in the country as well as in general education.

He disclosed some challenges which the association was grappling with, including the disparity in the entry point salary grade level between member of the association, as doctors teaching in the university system and their counterparts in the hospital system whose entry point salary ranks higher.

Orhue pointed out that the disparity should be closed as it discourages doctors from working in the university system, thereby posing a challenge to medical education in Nigeria.

He sought the minister’s support in pushing for the implementation of agreement with Federal Government to extend the retirement age of their category of medical doctors, as well as the implementation of the special pension benefit as captured in the Pension Act 2014 for their category of workers.

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