The House 
of Representatives has on Wednesday said its ready to strengthen the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila, said this while receiving the leadership of the NLC in his office in Abuja.
He said the NLC represented vast majority of Nigerians and had a mandate to protect the interest of the common man just like the legislature.
“We will be looking forward to your inputs, we are ready to look at them and amend the Labour Act.
“You should do that on time because time is of the essence so that we pass it very quickly,” Gbajabimila said.
Gbajabiamila urged the union to key into the motto of the 9th House of Representatives which was “Nation Building, a Joint Task”.
The speaker advice NLC to always conduct its activities free from political, ethnic and religious influences.
The NLC Chairman, Ayuba Wabba had earlier said that the visit was aimed at seeking collaboration of the house towards building the union into a strong institution.
According to Wabba, democracy can only thrive in the country through strong institutions like the NLC, legislature, judiciary among others.
He said that the NLC was made up of unions in the informal and formal sectors and that it represented the interest of the common man.
Wabba said the NLC was interested in sustaining cordial relationship with the green chamber for the protection of Nigerian people.
He said the United States, Germany, China and other developed countries have very strong labour unions and there is need to strengthen the NLC.
The chairman emphasised the need to put an end to casualisation of workers through legislation, describing it as modern-day slavery.
Wabba said that when amending the Labour Act, labour unions should be made more independent and that every Nigerian worker should be free to join any union of his choice.
He explained that there was need for a social dialogue which should be made up of all stakeholders to address issues rather than strikes.
The NLC commended the house for its interventions in resolving labour related matters especially in the health, education and power sectors in the country.
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