Comrade Ayuba Wabba, President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has urged the Federal Government to launch recovery and resilience plans be given precedence to job security, maintenance of income and ensuring minimum living wages.
The NLC President, unveiled this in his address to celebrate the 2020 World Decent Work Day titled: ‘A New Social Contract for Recovery and Resilience,’ on Wednesday in Abuja.
According to his statement, he said, ‘We call on the Nigerian government and governments around the world to put in place recovery and resilience plans which prioritize jobs, secure employment, workplace rights, income protection, minimum living wages, occupational safety and health, and universal social protection especially basic income for workers in the informal sector, the sick, the elderly and for those without employment.’
He proceeded by requesting for a new social contract, putting into consideration, the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on health, economies and the world of work at large.
He emphasised the need to give hope to workers and to restore economic growth, while building a people and planet-oriented global economy.
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For Wanna, the new social contract should be anchored on shared prosperity and social justice that are central to laying out the path to recovery from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wabba stated the current global economic model was impaired due to inequality and insecurity for workers and their families. He underlined the need to promote inclusion and reduce the inequality gap.
He said an adequately-funded universal public health, education, climate and technology transitions be made central in economic planning and policy framing.
‘In order to withstand further shocks from the resurgence of fresh outbreaks of Covid-19 and or other health and socio-economic dislocations, we must design a recovery plan that rebuilds the social contract between government and societies, and hoisted on the foundations of resilience.’
‘We demand these as basic minimum fundamental rights of working persons in the formal and informal sectors. For the ultimate end of human work is participation in a community of persons, both human and divine. Therefore, workers are both the means and end of production.’ he said