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Workers' Day: Subsidy Removal and FX Reform Pose Challenges to Industrial Relations |
Aremu noted that while labour-government relations are often characterized by "policy contestation and policy accommodation," the twin policies of fuel subsidy removal and foreign exchange market reforms have posed significant challenges to industrial relations
As Nigeria prepares to celebrate Workers' Day on May 1, 2024, the organized labour and the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration have been commended for maintaining relative industrial peace despite the daunting economic challenges facing the country. Comrade Issa Aremu, Director-General of the Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS), made this commendation during a pre-May Day policy brief on the state of labour-government relations under the current federal government.
Aremu noted that while labour-government relations are often characterized by "policy contestation and policy accommodation," the twin policies of fuel subsidy removal and foreign exchange market reforms have posed significant challenges to industrial relations. These policies have led to inflation, currency devaluation, and a high cost of living, testing the resolve of all stakeholders.
However, Aremu praised the adherence to collective bargaining and social dialogue principles, which has "commendably minimized avoidable work-stoppages, strikes, and lockouts" over the past year. He urged both the government and unions to deepen their engagement for mutual maximum benefits from the ongoing reform agenda.
The October 2 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the organized labour and government, following the removal of fuel subsidy, was cited as a model framework for managing industrial relations during economic crises. Aremu highlighted the successful implementation of the agreement, including the payment of the federal government wage award of N35,000, pending the announcement of a new national minimum wage.
Aremu emphasized the significance of the October agreement's commitment to social dialogue in all future engagements, ensuring that all parties work together to address challenges and find mutually beneficial solutions. He also stressed the importance of Workers' Day celebrations in a democracy, recalling that it was democratic dispensations that declared May 1 a public holiday in 1981 following demands from the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC). Aremu noted that organized labour has a stake in sustaining the nation's democracy, as citizens are better off under democratic governance than any other system.
