By Bimbola Oyesola, [email protected]
Members of the Chemical and Non-Metallic Products Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (CANMPSSAN) have appealed to the Federal Government to gear its policies towards ending casualization/contract staffing employment in the country, or at least curtailing it.
Speaking during the 3rd Quadrennial National Delegates’ Conference, themed, Repositioning manufacturing industry for positive sectorial growth in the present Nigeria economy, the President of the union, Segun David, described casual work as often temporary, with uncertain wages, long hours, and no job security.
The labour leader, who said that the matter should be pursued vigorously by the federal government, added that it could be actualized through collaboration with the organized labour, and the civil society organizations.
“The rise of casual employment is now a global trend in the larger global picture where decent work as a path to broad based development is rejected and more jobs are created through outsourcing or labour agencies.
“Casual work is often temporary, with uncertain wages, long hours, and no job security, he said.
According to him, the growth in irregular work has changed the nature of employment from a labour relationship to a commercial relationship, with the worker taking all the risks.
“The truth is that the owner of the business wants to cut costs by all means possible, so that the human capital could be treated as mere robots, he lamented.
David expressed that the position of CANMPSSAN as a trade union organization is that government policies must be geared towards stopping casualization or at least curtailing it.
He maintained that this should be pursued vigorously and actualized through collaboration with the organized labour, and the civil society organizations.
The trade union, which also called on government to check what it described as surging unemployment in the country, noted that unemployment had continued to be the number one problem in the nation.
The challenges of National Development, he reasoned “is to manage the economy in such a way as to promote job-led growth rather than the present situation of jobless growth.”
He added, “In our country today, many graduates and skilled youths are roaming the streets in search of jobs. All the prompt promises of government to create jobs has not yielded any dividends.
“It is a shame that the government is politicking with the unemployment situation by releasing spurious figures of jobs they have created only on the pages of newspapers.”
Looking into the future, the CANMPSSAN president opined that in the year 2060 when Nigeria will celebrate 100 years of independence, “the population of Nigeria at the current growth rate will be 350 million people”, noting that regrettably, there is no policy in place to effectively address the looming challenges that will arise.
“The time to act is now. The present administration must consider various windows of opportunities that will be attractive to business environment and encourage industrialization for the organized private sector to partner in the provision and expansion of infrastructures at all levels to enable it rise to the occasion and drive the process of employment generation,” he stressed.
While declaring the event open, Governor Abdul Rahman Abdulrazaq commended the union for staging the epoch making programme in Ilorin and enjoined them to feel the hospitality which the state is known for.
He stated that Kwara is the destination where investors are glamouring to come for investment and urged the leaders of the union not to be shy in asking reputable investors to come to the state. The governor who was represented by a director in the Establishment department of Governors office Hajiya Fatimah Abolore promised that the state is equally secured as they can see in their interaction with residents.
Other dignitaries at the event eulogised the union for their strides in ensuring there is peace in the private sector of the economy despite the challenges in the country.