The organised labour and employers in the private sector, in a very rare alliance, on Monday joined hands to rally support and build strategies to prevent further job loss in the country 

The landmark fraternity culminated into signing a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, by labour, represented by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), while employers were represented by its umbrella body, the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association, (NECA).

In the MoU, all the parties, among other things, agreed to “jointly work together to prevent further loss of jobs in the private sector by engaging companies landmark in a bid to get them to adopt more humane options.”

They also agreed to work together and prevail on government to provide economic stimulus packages to businesses, particularly in the most hit sector of the economy which includes, aviation, hospitality, tourism, manufacturing, and transportation among others.

The NLC president, Ayuba Wabba in his address during the signing ceremony said the concern of labour is protection of jobs for workers.

He said, “as organized labour, our major concerns, going forward include job security, rights at work, social protection and occupational health and safety for all workers in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Already thousands of workers especially the frontline workers have fallen victim to the COVID-19 infection. 

“While we continue to call on government and private sector employers to provide adequate protective and preventive facilities at the workplace, we will use the framework of this MoU to ensure that workers who fall ill are supported through paid sick leave to recover and be reinstated safely to their positions at work. We will also defend existing social protection nets such as pension and gratuity.”

He said nothing has in recent times threatened the shared interests and aspirations of both employers of labour and workers like the novel corona virus disease (Covid-19) pandemic. 

According to him, the urgency of the situation at hand informed the resolve of social partners in Nigeria – Employers’ and Workers’ Organizations to work together on developing a shared perspective and resolve aimed at mitigating the storms ahead.  

He said, “it is gratifying that this MoU has successfully identified critical areas of mutual needs, collaboration and efforts that would enable the social partners address the fallout of Covid-19 in our country. The overarching aim is to promote the health of Nigerians, boost productivity, protect jobs and preserve the means of livelihood for millions of Nigerians.”