Organised labour has tasked the Federal Government at ensuring decent work and protection of workers at workplaces, as part of COVID-19 pandemic recovery efforts.
President of the Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and other Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI), Olasanoye Oyinkansola, in her address during the celebration of the 2020 World Day for Decent Work, organised by the union in Lagos, said decent work for all workers must be the foundation for recovery plans.
She also noted that financing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) remains the best framework for resilience.
According to her, towards attaining the New Social Contract for Recovery and Resilience in line with the dictates of post-COVID-19 workplace, employers in the financial sector are compelled to adopt new rules to remain relevant in their place of work.
“These rules include alternate work days arrangement to comply with physical distance protocol, remote work, virtual meetings, seminars and conferences via webinar, Zoom and Telegram, among others,” she said.
Olasanoye stated that, to enhance recovery, Nigeria must build a social contract involving workers, employers and government on how best to withstand the aftermath of the pandemic using the contract as a foundation.
“Towards this end, ASSBIFI opines for the generation and sustainable employment opportunities, sustained fundamental principles and right to work, occupational safety and social protection, among others,” she said.
In the same vein, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) has called on the Federal Government, as part of post-COVID-19 plans, to carry out some bold reforms as well as robust fiscal and monetary policy actions to reduce the number of Nigerians who may be pushed into poverty and acts of criminality.
The president of the TUC, Quadri Olaleye, said: “Nigeria is a mono-economy, hence, the collapse of international oil prices has been monumental. It has destabilized the macroeconomic balances thereby further increasing the number of Nigerians living in poverty.”
Olaleye also called on employers to give attention to human resource as one of the critical ways to bring back economic growth and build a new global economy.