The Trade Union Congress (TUC), Lagos State Council, has called on governments at all levels to prioritise dialogue, honour agreements reached with workers and ensure labour is included in decisions affecting employees’ welfare and livelihoods.

The council chairman, Abiodun Aladetan, spoke recently at a workshop organised by the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) in Lagos.

Speaking on the theme, “A Shift from Confrontation to Collaboration,” Aladetan said persistent confrontation between labour and government had often been driven by a lack of dialogue, good faith and workers’ participation in decisions affecting them.

He said the traditional perception of government viewing labour as an obstacle and labour seeing government as an adversary had cost the country valuable time, productivity and welfare gains that collective bargaining was expected to deliver.

According to him, collaboration should not be interpreted as labour surrendering its voice or government dictating outcomes, but as both parties approaching industrial relations as partners with clearly defined responsibilities.

“Government brings the resources and the will to act, Labour brings the discipline, the productivity and the goodwill of the workforce that makes governance possible in the first place,” he said.

Aladetan urged the government to demonstrate its commitment to collaboration by ensuring that agreements reached with labour were implemented and welfare issues treated with urgency.

He also called for greater worker involvement in policies and decisions that directly affect their livelihoods, saying effective labour relations require mutual trust and good faith.

“As Chairman of TUC Lagos State Council, I say to Government today: collaboration is a two-way commitment. It must show in how agreements are honoured, how welfare matters are treated with urgency, and how workers are carried along, not confronted, when decisions affecting their livelihood are made,” he said.

He added that labour would remain willing to engage the government constructively where it demonstrated such good faith.

Aladetan, however, stressed that collaboration did not mean abandoning trade unions’ responsibility to defend workers’ interests.

He urged labour leaders across the South-West to take the workshop’s message back to their respective states and workplaces by pursuing dialogue before confrontation while remaining firm in protecting members’ rights.