COVID-19: Labour Mobilises Against States, Employers Sacking Workers

The organised labour said it was mobilising against state governments and other employers using the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to sack workers and undermine their rights.

The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Ayuba Wabba, said workers were being used as scapegoats for the economic challenges brought about by the pandemic.

Speaking to journalists in Abuja, shortly before the commencement of the Central Working Committee meeting of the NLC on Wednesday, Wabba said that labour and its allies would tackle any infraction on workers rights.

He noted, “We are having this meeting at a time when workers are going through various challenges. We expect to make far-reaching pronouncements on how we are going to engage employers of labour that have tried to undermine the fundamental rights of workers, especially state governments.

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“You remember we had written to two state governors on the issue, while one had responded, the other has not. We are going to tackle them headlong because we believe that people must respect the rule of law, especially those in authority.”

The union leader stated that congress would not condone the violation of workers’ rights, adding that the labour unions would take a position on issues affecting Nigerian workers.

Wabba recalled that the labour movement had recently intervened in disputes in the aviation sector, banking sector, manufacturing industry and others that had tried to sack workers and trampled on their rights in the guise of responding to the challenges of COVID-19 without recourse to due process of law and collective dialogue.

“The CWC meeting will afford us the opportunity to prioritise our engagements and to decode areas to tackle first,” he added.