The leadership of the National Union of Chemical Footwear Rubber Leather and Non-Metallic Products Employees (NUCFRLANMPE) has expressed concerns over what it described as alarming the rate at which outsourcing and casual work have taken over the chemical sector.
President of the union, Goke Olatunji, said it was a deliberate attempt by some employers to prevent their employees from unionisation.
Emphasising that it was a trend that negates the ILO convention on rights of a worker, the NUCFRLANMPE president said leaders of the union have, therefore, resolved at the National Administrative and Central Working Committee meeting held at the weekend in Sango Ota, Ogu State, to take on any erring employer headlong.
Olatunji said the union has written the employers on the need to respect Nigerian and international labour laws and conventions.
“We all understand the situation in the country and emphatise with some of our employers, but most of them, irrespective of the situation in the country,are still breaking even and have failed to do what is lawful,” he said.
Olatunji condemned the situation where Nigerians were being used as slaves in their country, while foreign employers repatriate all the benefits entitled to the workers to their own countries.
He said the union would support the committee put in place by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to fight casualisation and other anti-worker policies in the workplace.
“Nigerian workers are the ones oiling the machinery of this economy and are supposed to be treated fairly; a casual worker is underpaid, works several hours, is not entitled to any benefit whatsoever, all these must stop. Nigerian workers, irrespective of their standard, deserve to be treated fairly,” he said.
The NUCFRLANMPE leader, however, commended all employers who have commenced the implementation of the National Joint Industrial Committee agreement that was signed some months ago.
He also advised those yet to commence payment not to delay any further, while he maintained that the issue of gratuties of union’s members would be vigorously pursued.
Olatunji said the union, as a way of beating the present economic challenges and help some of its members already out of job, is diversifying into other investments that will further boost its financial capacity.
“Right now, the only major source of income is through check-off dues. So, the meeting has called for the speedy completion of our on-going ultra-modern shopping complex project as well as fashion out ways of going into small medium enterprises geared towards empowering members of the union,” he said.