The Director-General of Micheal Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS), Ilorin Comrade Issa Aremu has appealed to the striking National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) to obey the ruling of the National Industrial Court (NIC) ordering its members to return to work and negotiate outstanding issues of disputes through social dialogue with the relevant health authorities.
The strike which coincided with a spike in COVID-19 cases in the country had worsened the nation’s health-related deaths and complications.
In last year alone, medical practitioners were on strike three times over demands for allowances for treating COVID-19 patients and increment in basic salary.
He, therefore, urged the National Association of Resident Doctors ( NARD) to return to the negotiation table and ensure an agreement “that is binding all parties”.
Comrade Aremu also said,“ Doctors have the right to appeal, even go as far as the Supreme Court, but in the world of work, court judgements are zero-sum game with winners and losers and attendant death toll with respect to the present strikes.”
He added that both the doctors and health authorities should strive “not for court judgements” but for “Industrial justice”, which can only come through negotiations and compromises at negotiation tables”
The Director-General said it was time all stakeholders took advantage of the labour education services at the Institute adding that the current doctors’ strike “was preventable, and avoidable ” if there was sufficient knowledge about industrial relations by all the parties, with respect to the sanctity of collective agreements, social dialogue and compromises.”
In a related development, the Director-General/CEO Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies Com. Issa Aremu had urged employers of labour and organized unions to take advantage of dispute resolution mechanisms for harmonious and healthy working relationships.
He spoke at the University of Ibadan at the interactive session with participants at the Institute’s workshop “Sustainable Industrial Harmony and Productivity”.
