Labour relations in Nigeria have become so troubled that indefinite strikes have lately become the weapon of choice. Confronted by the non-responsiveness of the government, labour unions now tend to respond with a loss of restraint. Rare is the strike action in today’s Nigeria that is not conceived of or threatened as one with an indefinite tenure. Such is the collapse of social capital that the public sector unions seem to feel inclined to an endless power show.
Securing legal recognition of the right to strike was a historic victory for the labour movement. But like many powers, the ability to withdraw labour has to be exercised with matching responsibility. This responsibility to society, to the very public that public sector workers notionally serve, ought to persist even when the government is not exactly living up to its. The crisis of responsiveness that many citizens painfully endure at the hands of their government is often unfairly worsened by indefinite strike action. Strike action as a way of drawing attention to legitimate grievance does not have to degenerate into an exercise in inflicting endless pain on the public.
Yet public sector workers, irrespective of cadre, are becoming too attached to this tactic. These days any union that thinks it can wield that tool, be they lecturers in tertiary institutions, doctors, nurses and judiciary workers, will readily use it. It is lamentable that the government often permits matters to get to that point, but one irresponsibility does not justify another. It is welcome news that polytechnic lecturers have decided to suspend their 10-month strike, and this newspaper hopes this will hasten the cessation of other ongoing strike actions. It is arguable that the length of the strike correlates to successful attainment of its objective. Even if it does, how can the pain suffered by the public be undone?
There is clearly a need for a new paradigm for handling contentious industrial relations issues, even as the tactic of construing every labour dispute as a fight to the death should be decried. The indefinite strike should be eschewed as a tactic.
While the search for a new paradigm is apace, the public should be protected from the perils of incessant strike action. The notion of doctors, nurses, policemen, petroleum workers wantonly subjecting the public to avoidable hardship ought to be firmly rejected. An Essential Services Act should be passed that expressly prohibits strike action by employees and providers of medical, fire, security and energy services. The remit of this act should cover educational services at all levels as well. The Essential Services Act will provide the public a measure of certainty that public services will continue to be available while containing robust provisions for protecting and promoting the welfare of the workers providing these services. This legislation should emerge through a process of broad dialogue that seeks to construct a consensus against both the deployment of union power as social blackmail, and the lethargy and apathy with which the government all too often responds to industrial restiveness. Public sector unions and the government should practice proper industrial relations, not further the industrial-scale devastation of a troubled society.
