The House of Representatives has resolved to broker a deal between the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the federal government to end the ongoing strike.
The lower chamber said it would collaborate with the Senate to wade into the labour crisis.
The decision was reached on Wednesday following the adoption of a motion moved by Deputy Speaker Ben Kalu (APC, Abia).
Background
The unions and their affiliates including the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), on Tuesday, began a nationwide strike, in defiance of a court order barring them from embarking on the industrial action.
The Labour centres had declared the strike, to protest the brutalisation of the NLC president, Joe Ajaero, in Imo State on 1 November.
Mr Ajaero was attacked in Owerri, the state capital, during a protest by the NLC against the Imo State Government over alleged maltreatment of workers in the state.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that the unions listed six conditions that the government must meet before it calls off the strike.
For two days in a row, the National Assembly workers have barricaded the entrance to the complex.
Motion and debate
Moving the motion, Mr Kalu said the House almost did not hold Wednesday’s plenary session because of the shutdown of the National Assembly Complex by the workers.
He said the federal legislature could not afford to ignore the ongoing strike and called on the unions to suspend it.
“We were called early in the morning not to come for sitting. That the rooms are going to be locked and those that would put on the light would not be around. But on a second call, I was told that you braved it because you said ‘we cannot engage our people in our various homes’.
“It would be unworthy of us not to discuss this. I want to pray that the NLC and other unions should trust us to use diplomacy to resolve the problem,” he said.
Most of the lawmakers who contributed to the debate criticised the NLC for using what they said was a personal dispute as a premise to embark on a strike.
House Leader Julius Ihonvbere (APC, Edo) said the strike should not become a trivialised issue. He urged the unions to call off the strike.
“My initial reaction would be to stay on the side of Labour. But on this, the government has responded effectively to the fallout of the subsidy removal.
“It is not those who engaged the labour leader in Imo that are suffering. My secretary could not enter the office,” he said.
Speaking on the motion, Speaker Tajudeen Abbas said the House was not going to pass any judgment on any of the parties.
READ ALSO: Senate invites NLC, TUC for meeting, wants strike ended
He said rather it would rather collaborate with the leadership of the Senate to deliberate on the issue.
Following the long debate, Mr Abbas directed the Committee on Labour to coordinate the intervention.
The Senate had earlier resolved to invite the Labour leaders to a meeting just as it urged the unions to call off the strike.
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