By Mohammed Bababusu
Lafia – As activities grind to a halt in Nasarawa, following a strike action declared by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), a group – the Wakma Progressive Forum – has called for a truce.
Its President, Mr Thomas Auta, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lafia on Thursday that government and organised labour must seek some common understanding “in the interest of the common man”.
“The two groups must sit down and iron out their differences; schools, hospitals, markets and offices are shut down. We cannot shut down the state for this long, especially in view of the current economic recession,” he said.
Auta said that the lingering strike action was a setback to the development of the state.
He said that the educational sector was worst affected as students, who were supposed to be in schools, had been idling away at home and on the streets.
Auta said that the economic loss arising from the strike action could not be quantified.
“The losses are already massive; allowing the strike to linger further will only worsen an already bad situation,” he said.
He said that there was no issue that could not be resolved with dialogue, and appealed to both government and organised labour to make sacrifice towards ending the impasse.
“Government should make sincere commitment to meeting some of the workers’ demand, given the current economic realities.
“Labour, on its part, should show some understanding by relaxing some of its demands pending when the economy will improve,” Auta added.
He urged other stakeholders to intervene toward resolving the issues.
NAN reports that orgnised labour embarked on an indefinite strike on May 12, over the non-payment of salaries and other entitlements, as well as the lack of promotion for deserving workers.
