By Victor Ahiuma-Young

FEDERAL Ministry of Labour and Employment, and organised labour, yesterday in Lagos, said government and labour were very concerned over rising cases of unwholesome and unfair labour practices in the nation’s financial sector in a bid to cut costs and maximize profit.

*Joe Ajaero, factional NLC president

FMLE and Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, spoke at an interactive session on “Issues and Challenges Relating to Labour Outsourcing in Nigeria”, organised by the South-West Zone of the South-West zone of FMLE in collaboration with the National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions, NUBIFIE, for stakeholders in the financial sector operating in South-West zone.

Speaking, factional President of NLC, Mr. Joe Ajaero, insisted that outsourcing, contract staffing, casualization and other forms of unconventional employment were evil and disagreed with the argument that since the practices were global trends, they had come to stay.

According to him, in other climes where the practices were coming from, they had safety nets in form of social security for the unemployed, the aged and other vulnerable citizens, declaring that approving outsourcing and others by government without safety nets was like legalizing illegality.

He, however, urged unions to ensure that outsourced workers and their likes were unionized for them to get the union’s protection and rights among others.

Similarly, FMLE Zonal Director, South-West zone, Dr. Ifeoma Anyanwutaku, told participants that though the Nigerian financial services sector that facilitated the smooth inter-mediation of financial transactions in the economy was growing in leaps and bounds, but, at present was bedeviled with all of unwholesome and unfair labour practices.

While admitting that Nigeria was facing the reality of new and emerging global economic trends manifesting in the form of new employment relationships such as casualization, contract staffing, outsourcing, subcontracting, temporary and part-time employment, among others, the zonal director said there were clear indications that these new forms of employment had become a s our he that was gaining ground in an unprecedented proportion, intensity and scare in Nigeria.

According to her “This may be attributable to the quest by employers of labour to sustain their business enterprises in an increasingly competitive and harsh business environment characterized by a need to concentrate on core functions of the business as a way of minimizing costs or maximizing profit. Be that as it may, that does not in any way imply the tolerance of acts of commission or omission that smack of unfair labour practices and/or decent work deficits.

“Such employment practices should be done not only in the note rest of the employer but also in consideration of the welfare of the employees. As such, while adopting these new forms of employment practices, the employer should at all times ensure the rights and privileges of workers are not unduly trampled upon, abuse or denied.”