Union seeks urgent review of labour laws to save jobs

President of National Union of Shop and Distributive Employees (NUSDE), Innocent Jaja, has called for the review of the country’s labour laws to save jobs.

He argued that the existing laws do not support casual workers.

Jaja, in an interview with The Guardian at the 2019 May Day celebration in Lagos, flayed the Ministry of Labour and Employment for issuing certificates to individuals as labour contractors.

According to him, they are glorified casual workers where they work.

He noted that until these laws are reviewed, problems affecting the sector, such as outsourcing and contract workers would continue.

He also called on the government to tackle the problem of electricity supply in the country, noting that if addressed, over 80 per cent of manufacturers and employers challenges would have been solved.

“Our members are downsizing due to harsh economic situation. Epileptic power supply, if tackled, would have solved our problems by 80 per cent, and the economy will grow. We cannot industrialise and certainly cannot employ people when electricity supply is bad,” he said.