Labour, CSOs Renew Partnership To Tackle Shrinking Civic Space

Labour and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), have identified a need to renew the years-long partnership with each other, in a bid to tackle the shrinking civic space.

The organisations in a two-day parley meeting called for the need of synergy as a means of tackling the common problems and challenges facing the organizations.

The two-day meeting which held in Abuja on May 7 and 8 was themed, “Building and strengthening ties between labour and civil society organisations.”

Stakeholders present at the meeting were Trade Union Congress (TUC); Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE); Federation of Informal Workers Organisation of Nigeria (FIWON).

At the meeting, the labour and the CSOs deliberated on identifying the perceptions, needs, challenges and shared areas of interest of the two organizations.

It was agreed that the different modes of operation of the two organization is a critical challenge that have been affecting the Labour-civil relationship.

Also, the meeting identified the absence of political and politicised labour leadership as a challenge to the relationship of the duo.

This was contained in a communique issued at the end of the meeting, and made available to The New Diplomat.

According to the communique, it was agreed that there is need for “labour and civil society to work together and in the strength of this premise put things in motion to reverse the trend.”

On the strength of this premise, the meeting agreed to initiate a Campaign For Transformative Governance (CTG), with the central theme on corruption and Insecurity, and their deleterious impact on the trajectory of Human development.

This meeting agreed that the initiative Campaign would be organise across the state of the federation. The initiative, according to the organisations will publicly promote a three-thematic-pillar which includes; accessible and efficient public Services Delivery; Promotion of Human Security; and Political Education for Transformative Governance.

The organizations also pledged to work together to build structures that would facilitate better relations between labour and Pro-Labour Civil Society Organisations.

The communique partly reads, “The meeting was organised to achieve the following objectives;

1- To establish or reestablish ties between labour and civil society and identify areas of joint concern for campaign.

2- To identify perceptions, needs and shared areas of interest between the Labour and civil society organisations; while achieving a better understanding of the challenges faced by both sides, in order to better appreciate the challenges and issues that potentially hamper collaboration and solidarity between labour and Pro-Labour Civil Society organisations.

3- To encourage new thinking on Labour-Civil Society relations and coordination that is inspired by current challenges and opportunities for joint Campaign and advocacy transformative governance, and the building and consolidation of active solidarity.”