In the light of the challenges posed by the novel coronavirus pandemic, the Peoples Redemption Party, PRP, has charged Nigerian workers to be innovative in an attempt to circumvent the effects of the hard-hit economy.
As the world marks the International Workers Day, the party said in a statement issued by its national chairman, Mallam Falalu Bello, that Nigerian workers face tough times as countries across the globe seek ways to reposition their economies given the attendant chaos caused by COVID-19. The statement read in part: “As Nigerian workers mark this year’s May Day. they must take time to mull over these dire challenges which stare them in the face directly.
They must strategize creatively to find ways and means of confronting these challenges and fashioning out sustainable and durable exit solutions. “This year’s May Day commemoration is taking place in very difficult and inauspicious circumstances, not only for Nigerian workers but for workers all over the world, largely as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This pandemic has resulted and continues to cause massive job losses and wage cuts for workers, petty producers and other small-time producers and service providers in Nigeria and across the globe.
“But in Nigeria, the situation is particularly pathetic given the pre-existing high unemployment rates, the low levels of slave wages and the near-total absence of unemployment and social security benefits.”
It also called on workers to build bridges and forge common fronts to actualise their objectives. “The PRP, true to its historic mission and unalloyed commitment to the proletarian reconstruction of Nigeria, believes that the best way forward for the Nigerian Workers Movement, particularly in the present challenging circumstances, is the broadening of the workers‘ front lines through the forging of solidarity fronts between workers’ organisations, professional groups, progressive political parties and other civil society organisations. “Nigeria’s labour union leaders must find ways of linking up with all patriotic individuals and organisations in the ongoing struggle, not only to safeguard the hard-earned achievements of the country‘s workers’ movement, but also the present threat to chip away some of these gains such as wage cuts, and retrenchments without benefits.
“Nigerian workers and their leaders must appreciate the historic limitations of economic struggles and trade union action for just workers’ welfare and combine their efforts with the struggle for political power which ultimately shapes the condition under which workers work and live. This must entail building bridges and forging alliances and solidarity with the peasantry, petty producers and other oppressed and exploited classes in the society,” the statement added.
The party also called on the federal government to intensify efforts aimed at stemming the spread of the coronavirus by providing health workers “with the necessary Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and tools that will enhance the performance of their noble work.”
