BY PETER OKUTU

ABAKALIKI – Speaker of Ebonyi State House of Assembly,  Mr. Ikechukwu Nwankwo, Wednesday commended the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and Trade Union Congress, TUC for the maturity it displayed in shelving the proposed warning strike over the non-implementation of N18, 000 minimum wage by the Federal government.

He noted that by signing into law a bill for the increase in the minimum wage of workers in the country, President Goodluck Jonathan, demonstrated the determination to improve the lot of workers, noting that mutual understanding and dialogue between government and organized labour was required at this point in time.

In a statement in Abakaliki, the Speaker praised organized labour for understanding the precarious socio-economic position of the nation arguing that the proposed strike would have done much to put the country’s economy on its knees.

He said: “Like I said in my earlier appeal to labour to rethink the proposed strike, there is no amount expended in the course of negotiating for peace that is too expensive, the most expensive peace is less expensive than the least expensive war. I am happy that good reason and superior thinking have prevailed in the course of the dialogue,” the speaker remarked.