As the strike embarked upon by doctors and medical workers continues to take its toll on people and the economy, In this interview with MESHACK IDEHEN, Chairman of Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) Rivers State, Mr. Chika Onuegbu says strike by medical workers is inimical to economic growth, development and productivity.

What exactly is the state of the nation’s health sector, doctors and the workers that are driving it?

I am deeply worried about the state of industrial relations in the nations’ health sector, especially in view of the fact that there is hardly any month that passes by without one union or professional association in the health sector not going on strike. As a labour leader, I know that these industrial unrests put so many burdens on the ordinary people of this country who are the real users of public health facilities.

The rich and powerful travel abroad for their medical treatment and where for any reasons they cannot do so, such as emergency, they go to the private hospitals. The poor amongst us, who by every statistics form about 70% of the population of Nigeria, cannot afford the private hospitals and so whenever there is an industrial unrest in the nation’s health sector, they lie down resigned to fate. Some of them even resort to all manner of quacks and even fake prophets.

In the process, some of them have lost their lives or their medical conditions worsened from treatable to non-treatable. These same people look up to the Nigerian trade union movement for advocacy and help. I also know that these unrests are one of the key indicators failures of social dialogue and industrial relations. They are clearly indications that a lot needs to be done to broaden and deepen the understanding and practice of industrial relations in our health sector.

Who and what would you say should Nigerians hold responsible for the maintenance of sanity and industrial harmony in the country’s health sector?

Enthroning and maintaining an atmosphere of industrial peace and harmony in the nation’s health sector and in any sector for that matter is a joint responsibility of all the parties to industrial relations in the health sector.

It is a function of the actions and inactions of all the parties and therefore requires the determination, commitment, collaboration and mutual understanding of the key parties (i.e. labour unions, employers, government and her agencies). And this is where social dialogue and tripartism comes in.

You are emphasisng dialogue as a means of getting the health sector right thereby eliminating workers strikes and unrest. In what ways do you think the application of dialogue will work in this context?

Dialogue, when done honestly, has been identified as a veritable means of resolving all grievances and conflicts. This has also been accepted by practitioners of industrial relations and the International labourorganisation, (ILO).

In fact one of four key strategic objectives of the ILO is the promotion and strengthening of social dialogue. This is because the ILO places premium on dialogue and cooperation among governments, employers’ organisations and workers’ organisations in fostering social and economic progress. Dialogue among and between the governments and the two social partners promote consensus building and democratic involvement of those with vital stakes in the world of work.Also social dialogue is key to the achievement of all the other objectives of the ILO.

The main aim of social dialogue is promotion of consensus building and democratic involvement of the main stakeholders in the world of work regarding the terms and conditions of work and employment.

However in order for social dialogue to take place, the following must exist such as a strong, independent workers’ and employers’ organisations with the technical capacity and the access to relevant information to participate in social dialogue; political will and commitment to engage in social dialogue on the part of all the parties; respect for the fundamental rights of freedom of association and collective bargaining; and appropriate institutional support. Let me also clarify that social dialogue must necessarily include the implementation of theagreements that have been reached.

This is because without the implementation of the agreements reached by way of social dialogue, the process will end up a waste of time. Therefore an important aspect of social dialogue is the more or less binding character of social dialogue outcomes. The functions of dialogue might range from aweak level of communication and information only, without any necessary commitment toreaching concrete policy outcomes, to effective negotiations with legally binding or non-bindingoutcomes.

Do you think dialogue still hasa place in the scheme of things, considering the frequency with which industrial unrest is happening in the health sector?

The importance of dialogue in the effective resolution of conflicts has been widely documented. Dialogue has also been accepted as a panacea to industrial disharmony. Dialogue among the social partners in the world of work has been known to foster industrial peace and harmony, and by extension increasing output and national development.

It is that regard that we keep calling and appealing to all stakeholders in industrial relations (i.e. labour unions, companies/banks managements and government) to give more time and attention to social dialogue, always be guided by the principles of natural justice and equity and respect for human dignity and extant labour laws in their approach to labour and Industrial relations matters, including in the health sector.

This in the immediate and long term will foster an atmosphere of peace and industrial harmony necessary for increased production, wealth creation and economic development.

How would you define ideal industrial harmony in the health sector?

Industrial harmony is a simple and yet complex term to define. It is essentially the atmosphere of industrial peace. Peace as we know is not necessarily the absence of violence. So also industrial peace is not necessarily the absence of industrial crises. Industrial peace and harmony has a slender body, the strength of which is determined by the amount of justice done to the human dignity in workplace relationship.

Where the human dignity is treated without respect and as an economic unit, there is no gainsaying that any peace enjoyed is only temporary. Industrial peace and harmony therefore requires the commitment and deliberate actions of all parties geared towards the enthronement of peace and harmony.

To this end we want to state that we are not unmindful of how some obnoxious laws and mischievous loopholes in our labour laws have been exploited by some employers and institutions to perpetrate injustice and evil against Nigerian workers.

It is therefore clear that harmony and industrial peace cannot be imposed on the parties to industrial relations in any guise whatsoever. It can only be achieved via social dialogue in an environment of humane labour laws.

This is so because unjust and obnoxious labour laws create a serious barrier to dialogue and ultimately leads to industrial crises. It creates a false sense of peace for the organisations and institutions that rely solely on such laws as the basis for industrial relations.

It also makes it difficult for ordinary people to see the government or the relevant institutions as a neutral arbiter and thus creates an environment of doubt as to whether the government could reasonably be expected to guarantee the welfare, security and safety of the workers who are usually at the receiving end of such laws. This of course will give a renewed impetus to solidarity among the workers as well as create a bonding effect for the workers’ struggle.

History is replete with examples! Unjust and obnoxious laws cannot and should not howsoever be relied upon to create an enduring atmosphere of industrial peace and harmony in any society, ours inclusive.