Government’s team as well as officials of the Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) and the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN) will meet next weeks with a view to ending the ongoing strike by the two unions.
This comes as the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, has expressed optimism about the possibility of reaching a truce with the workers during the meeting.
Ngige, who spoke yesterday, said the government’s team has made offers to the two unions for them to consult with their various National Executive Committees and revert.
According to him, a lot of work went into the proposal given by the government side to the two unions, which substantially addressed their demands for judicial and legislative autonomy in the 36 states of the country.
Ngige explained: “A lot of work went in. We have exchanged briefs with the JUSUN and PASAN. They have their demands, which they had earlier submitted. The government side has given counter offers and properly addressed the burning issue of financial autonomy for state legislatures and judiciary.”
He said the meeting was adjourned to enable JUSUN and PASAN to take back the government proposal to their members in their National Executive Committees.
“We expect them to work on the documents from tomorrow and if they are satisfied, they should inform us. And you know that when they are satisfied, the logical thing is to call off the industrial dispute. So, we are to receive their views on the government offer by Tuesday morning,” he stated.
Ngige noted that overall, the discussions have been very fruitful, adding that they have moved from the initial position of ground zero to ground 85.
He, however, appealed to the striking workers to return to work to enable the government to meet the remaining part of their demands.
“We cannot do this when the legislatures are closed in various states. We cannot also operationalise them when the courts are closed and Heads of Courts are not allowed into the courts or their offices.
“We have made documentation and statistics for the state Houses of Assembly to make appropriate laws. So, we plead that you open the courts and state Houses of Assembly.
“Besides, we are menaced by bandits, terrorists and arsonists. With the courts closed, the police cannot tackle insecurity,” Ngige said.
In his response, the Vice Chairman of JUSUN, Emmanuel Abioye, and the National President of PASAN, Mohammed Usman, said they were going back to meet with their National Executive Committees (NEC) to study the offers and consider them before reverting to the Minister of Labour.
