At the risk of engaging in circular reasoning, we can also safely make the point that improved labour relations enhance the overall social and political stability. A society that enjoys good Labour-Management-Government relations is less likely to be polarised along ideological, economic and even ethnic lines. Consequently, that society stands a better chance of forging a consensus to confront other challenges it faces such as reducing poverty and making improvements in education, healthcare and other social indicators.
As good labour-management-government relations tends to reduce the number of people that feel marginalised by the politics of the economy, it makes them more likely to promote their interests within the established political framework as opposed to other more radicalised means.
When labour-management-government as social partners reach out not only to each other but also to the stakeholders in the wider society, their contributions forge valuable alliances that promotes demand-driven skills training, retraining for displaced workers, learning centers for pre-school children and, in the case of ECOWAS, a family welfare programme consisting of twelve activities – i.e., healthcare, nutrition and sanitation, responsible parenthood, cooperatives, housing, transportation, sports, values formation, employment and income generation.
In short, improved LMG relations encourage a healthy respect for the rule of law and increase social capital through greater civic participation. It is accepted that these factors, in turn, promote good governance and foster the necessary collaboration for many desirable social outcomes that ECOWAS leaders have made their goal, as also displayed in the NEPAD policy document.