ORGANISED labour has frowned at the activities of multinational companies and other business organisations in Nigeria who engage in employing cheap labour, saying that this will only escalate poverty in the country.

Officials of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in conjunction with the IndustriALL Global Union, Africa Region, as part of the activities to mark the “Decent Work Day” , met to discuss the problems emanating from the employment policy of the multinational corporations and other companies involved in cheap labour.

Addressing members of the NLC and other affiliates, the former Deputy President of the Union, Issa Aremu, said that employment conditions in the private sector has fallen short of the standard prescribed by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), pointing out that, “with unbridled pursuit of profits by private employers of labour, work is no more decent.”

“Indeed work is getting precarious as millions of workers worldwide face hard times in the face of worsening conditions at work. World wide, Nigeria inclusive, workers are exposed to worsening health and safety situations with increased cases of deaths and injuries at work.”

Urging employers of labour in the country to work towards meeting the standard prescribed by ILO, Aremu said: “Decent work must guarantee minimum living wages for the workers, wages that are paid as at when due.”

“Decent work means work that is secured and done by free workers who are entitled to form trade unions and engage in collective bargaining to protect their rights in the world of work. Decent work delivers a fair income, security in the workplace and social protection for families, better prospects for personal development and social integration.”

Aremu further argued, “in Nigeria, there is a dangerous unacceptable non-payment of salaries of workers of up to seven months in some states. Delayed and non-payment of salaries is wage theft, which should be treated as economic crime. Workers have the right to make ungovernable and unmanageable companies and states that are defaulting on wage payment, remittance of pension contributions and union dues.”

Said he: “We certainly commend President Muhammed Buhari for working out ways and means to assist some states governors to meet their wage obligations. We must however say that workers’ monthly wages are legitimate regular earnings that must not be tied to presidential bail outs.”

Besides, the labour chief remarked, “apart from non-payment of salaries, recruitment of workers for few available jobs is getting precarious. Some unscrupulous employers rather than employing directly outsource their workforce under inhuman and criminal terms as we have seen in the many commercial banks and in government agencies with the tragic case of immigration in which many applicants died after paying for employment forms.

“Few workers who are employed are getting poorer because of poor remuneration. Jobs are no longer secured as employers opt for casual short term flexible employment as part of the strategies to save cost and boost profit.”