Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has called on the government to review all labour laws to engender good and robust industrial relations in the country.
In his address to the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of PENGASSAN held in Warri, Delta State , the President, Comrade Babatunde Ogun, said: “There is need to review some of the country’s labour laws that are now obsolete, especially the aspect of the law that deals with mediation.”
The association noted that the mediation aspect of the labour laws should be the focus of the proposed review.
“Under the current laws no power is given to the Minister of Labour and Productivity while mediating in industrial dispute but the minister can only advise the parties.
The law should be reviewed in a way that the minister will have power to make binding pronouncements on parties while mediating,” he said.
He condemned the inability of the government to enforce all conventions and other extant labour standards of the International Labour Organsiation (ILO) that have been ratified by the federal government.
“The government should evolve political will to enforce all conventions of the ILO and should not just leave Nigerian workers at the mercy of the employers who are more profit oriented at the expense of developing human capacity in the country.
“Most of these conventions have provisions to ensure human dignity, improve workers’ welfare and protect workers against degradation while at work,” he stated.