Strike: We’ll protect all interests, FG appeals to workers

The federal government has again appealed to workers in the private and public sectors across the country to continue their support for the present administration led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, saying all their interests would be protected.

The government also said it had taken stock of the peculiar needs and grievances of different categories of labour organisations and was working assiduously to address them effectively.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong, made the plea in his office on Wednesday while playing host to the leadership of the National Association of Medical and Dental Academics (NAMDA), led by its president, Dr Nosa Lancy Orhue.

The spokesman of the ministry, Olajide Oshundun, who disclosed this to journalists after a closed-door meeting, said Lalong pledged continued protection of all categories of workers in all sectors and swift response to their calls and complaints.

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Oshundun said NAMDA was specifically assured that measures were already in place to address their complaints and grievances, adding that the measures were already on course and would be concluded to their satisfaction.

Earlier, Orhue congratulated the minister on his appointment and pledged the support of the association to the federal government in salvaging medical education in the country, as well as in education generally.

He disclosed that some challenges the association was grappling with included the disparity in the entry-point salary grade level between their association as doctors teaching in the university system and their counterparts in the hospital system.

Orhue pointed out that the disparity should be closed as it discouraged doctors from working in the university system, thereby posing a challenge to medical education in the country.

He sought the minister’s support in pushing for the implementation of agreement with the federal government to extend the retirement age of their category of medical doctors, as well as the implementation of the special pension benefit, as captured in the Pension Act 2014, for their category of workers.

The union leader also appealed for the payment of the withheld salary of their members, as they did not take part in the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike for which it was withheld.