Fashola Tasks Labour On Dialogue

The organised labour in Nigeria has been urged to always explore dialogue rather than using frequent strikes to resolve industrial issues with their employers.

Governor Babatunde Fashole of Lagos State stated this during the Lagos Zone of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) Exellence Award.

Fashola said strikes had a deleterious impact on productivity and the national economy, stressing that industrial actions should only be used as a last resort.

The Governor said “when strikes are used to shut down this and that all the time, all in the name of pressing home your demand the labour are shutting down the economy because productivity suffers”.

He said the method of strike may have been right some 50 years ago or during the military regime but not anymore, stressing that the Labour embarking on strike now will be causing hardship and harming the same government elected by the people.

The Governor urged the labour unions to be more creative and ingenuous in negotiating with their employers, stressing that dialogue still takes place after strikes and therefore dialogue should be used all through the process of negotiation.

He urged members of NUPENG to have a rethink of their business models and consider moving their products by rail in the future in Lagos state, stressing that moving petroleum products by road was dangerous and not sustainable.

Fashola argued that the huge tonnage of loads moved by trailers and tankers was responsible for the quick depreciation of Nigerian roads  thereby affecting the movement of other road users.

Earlier the NUPENG National President Comrade Achese Igwe said the union was in support of the Lagos State government labour friendly policies  and developmental strides.