Do Workers Have Any Right In Nigeria?

editorial

The peaceful protest by members of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, at the headquarters of Chevron Nigeria Limited, CNL, over the sack of 4,000 workers is another pointer to the fact in Nigeria that nobody respects the rights of workers.

So many companies owned by expatriates have often kicked out workers on the flimsiest of excuses while the government has always looked the other way as if those sacked workers are  not citizens of Nigeria.

Contract staff and casual labourers have been having it rough in the hands of established companies and the labour unions have often been at their throats, sometimes forcing them to respect the dignity of labour but little has been done by these companies to alleviate the suffering of these hapless Nigerians.

Do these Nigerians not deserve the protection of their governments? Do we allow citizens of other nations enslave our citizens yet do nothing to bring the culprits to book? Many times these multinationals have treated Nigerians with disdain, depending on their Nigerian directors to protect them from answering to the injustice they often visit on their workers. Must we allow this to continue in the name of foreign investment?

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The 4,000 workers that Chevron sacked is just a tip of the iceberg.

The way casual workers are being treated by companies ought to become a great source of concern to our government. When Nigerians are treated this way in their own country and government looks the other way, we fear that the boomerang effect may consume all of us. If a single company can throw up to 4,000 people into the labour market in one fell swoop, then the country is heading for the abyss.

In the last few months, many multinationals and even companies owned by Nigerians have thrown many Nigerians into the labour market. So many companies and labour unions are in court over the shabby treatment meted out to Nigerian employees.

We have to do something to halt this trend of casualisation which is becoming the in-thing in the industrial sector of the Nigerian economy. Outsourcing and casualisation may be okay in other climes but it is killing Nigerians.

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