NECA, NLC, others sign MoU to rescue business post COVID-19

By Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf

Worried about the future of work post Covid-19, the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) has hinted of plans to enter a memorandum of understanding with the two leading trade unions, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) to help mitigate the fallouts of the pandemic.

The MoU signing, which holds on Monday, at the NLC headquarters in Abuja, is aimed at forming a coalition to address the challenges arising from the Covid-19 pandemic in the workplace and its impact in Nigeria as a whole.

Speaking in Lagos, the Director-General of NECA, Dr. Timothy Olawale, stated that “the Covid-19 pandemic has done significant damage to businesses and changed the dynamics of the world of work. As employers and workers are both directly affected by the pandemic, it became necessary to work together in addressing the critical labour and socio-economic issues arising from the pandemic, especially from the perspective of the work-place.”

Justifying the need for the MoU, the NECA  boss noted that “As social partners, whose overall interest is enterprise-competitiveness, protection of workers’ rights and development of national economy, the desire to pool reflections, initiatives, and actions in the fight against Covid-19 and any external threat to businesses and workers in the private and public sectors necessitated the collaboration. It is no gainsaying that the rate of enterprises fatality and job loss due to Covid-19 was worrisome. The effects of the pandemic have escalated it to an alarming rate with large scale negative consequences for our nation.”

While commending parties to the MoU, Dr. Olawale stated that “the signing of this MoU would be done by the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Abuja Office as witness. This Coalition will continue to work together post-Covid-19 to develop programmes with government and other stakeholders to ensure business sustainability and competitiveness, creation of decent jobs and rapid national development.”