The President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Quadri Olaleye has said the government should grant three months tax holidays to Nigerian workers.
News Hub Mag! reports that Olaleye said this in his contribution at the Workers’ Day Virtual (online) dialogue with stakeholders to commemorate the annual workers day organised by The Nigerian Workforce Strategy and Enlightenment Centre (NIWOSEC) in Ilorin on Saturday.
He also advised the government to invest massively in the public health sector, to encourage front line health workers adding that government give reasonable palliatives to Nigerians during the ongoing lockdown.
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He urged the government to diversify the economy and standardize the health sector, stressing the need for the government to create jobs and enabling environment for business to thrive.
The Executive Director and Lead Strategist, at NIWOSEC, Dr. David Ehindero said that the aim of the virtual dialogue was to develop an effective and participatory model of engagement for stakeholders in the Nigerian industrial labour system.
Ehindero said that the need to provide an alternative platform for stakeholders to commemorate the annual workers day despite the COVID-19 related social distancing were among the aim of the initiative.
“Part of the objective of the virtual dialogue is to engender interrogation and discussion on the industrial relation and workplace implications of COVID-19 pandemic.
“To articulate vision for a post pandemic era, identifying structure and facilities needed to navigate the socioeconomic environment after the current crisis as well as possible measures to avert prevailing challenges should another challenge occur”, he said.
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Dr Anifowose Kilani the Chairman, Signa Sabitors, also advocated for comprehensive and compulsory insurance cover for Nigerian workers.
He identified the need for workers to have access to genuine and authentic information, adding that lack of authentic information could affect the psychology of workers.
“The government must handle relaxation of lockdown with caution in order to forestall increasing rate of infection of COVID-19,” Kilani said.
The Director of Research, Planning, and Curriculum Development at the Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS), Mr Edwin Anisha called on the government to ensure that workers do not lose their jobs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Anisha advised the government to develop unique business model and avoid copy and paste of policies in its resolve to address the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There is need for government to strengthen public health institutions to respond to emergency health challenges and also as a matter of urgency to ensure that there is reliable data with which they could adequately guarantee social interventions,” he said.
The Vice-President, Industrial Global Union, Comrade Issa Aremu in his contribution counseled workers to be creative during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“Workers and government should explore the opportunities in the health challenges confronting the country, new jobs can be created while concentrating on the old ones.
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“I would also like to stress the need for labour leaders to be more involved in politics and governance, governance should not be left to politicians, everybody should be interested in what is going on in the government.
“There is the need for comprehensive approach to political and economic development as it affects workers”, he said.
With the theme, “COVID-19 And Its Implications For Nigeria Workers” News Hub Mag! gathered that the workers day vitual dialogue is aimed at suggesting appropriate policy measures for the sustainability of businesses, job security, guaranteed income security and extend social protection and relief to workplace categories most impacted by the pandemic and the vulnerable persons in the society.
