By Bimbola Oyesola
Organised Labour has warned government against further actions that would put more burdens on the workers. President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Ayuba Wabba, in his Christmas message said the year has been turbulent for workers hence government must steer away from making workers’ burden more grievous.
“This will be resisted. Workers cannot be the cannon fodder for the misgovernance of successive years,” he said.
He noted that the news of the availability of a vaccine for COVID-19 is a special gift of Christmas.
“As medical experts confirm the potency and safety of the vaccine, we urge the international health community to develop a pro-poor vaccine that will not dig further holes in the pockets of poor countries and poor people of the world,” he said.
The NLC president said that a more virulent pandemic would be for organised capital to commoditise and commercialise COVID-19 vaccine out of the reach of billions who need it desperately.
Wabba said that such would be antithetical to the spirit and message of Christmas, lamenting that Nigerians, especially workers had suffered a lot of downturns and reversals this year.
“While wages remained constant, fuel and electricity prices have been severally and arbitrarily increased inducing a galloping inflation,” he stated.
Speaking on the second wave of COVID-19, Wabba said the temptation to throw caution to the winds would be rife this festive season, hence he appealed to the workers not to be complacent as COVID-19 is real.
He, however, said that while labour encourages workers to adhere to health safety protocols as issued by relevant authorities coordinating the national effort against COVID-19, government should balance the options of another lockdown with its capacity to live up to its responsibility of catering to the welfare of workers and citizens that such lock down would rob of their means of livelihood.