Casualisation, Precarious Threat to Decent Employment



Linda Eroke writes that government’s effort to boost employment has not been followed with assurances of decent work, given the increasing level of contract-based employment in the country

Analysts have described contract staffing and precarious work as major problems besetting decent work and social justice in the Nigerian work environment.

It is heart-breaking to note that Nigerians are forced by the realities of excruciating unemployment to sign any contract of employment just to have a job. In most cases, the agreements were never entered on equal terms but were forced down the throat of the workers by the realities of the country’s labour market.

Though there are efforts by government to boost employment generation in the country, this has not been followed by assurances of decent work and worker protection given the increasing number of contract-based employment in the nation’s economy, experts have insisted.

It is pertinent to also note that contract and agency labour and precarious forms of employment have been exploding in the country, bringing with it two categories of workers: one with good secure jobs and another category of workers faced with short term jobs, low wages, no social protection and a loss of rights.

Specifically, the massive shift away from regular employment into temporary work or jobs through agencies and labour brokers is having a deep impact on all workers, their families, and on the society. According to analysts, the erosion of the employee-employer relationship, often the basis of labour law, is leading directly to a growing number of violations of workers’ rights.

There is therefore a disconnect in employment and productivity resulting from policy changes, especially those inspired by the international financial institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which have in recent years encouraged work flexibility and brought with it a lowering of work conditions at both national and international levels.

This is in addition to the global economic and employment crisis that have continued to threaten the future of workers all over the world particularly in developing nations like Nigeria.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has emphasised that the expansion of precarious forms of work and deregulation of the labour market are not the answer to the employment crisis. Indeed, the international labour centre had maintained that the insecurity of working people over recent decades was a significant contributor to the recession.

Moreso, it has been established that agency hires and temporary contracts destroy job security and undermine all other rights and promote gross exploitation of both the temporary worker and the permanent employee working alongside them.

There are instances where workers employed on an agency type arrangement with inferior wages and conditions are being used to reduce and eventually eliminate a permanent workforce of long standing.

This is what is happening in nearly all sectors of the economy - manufacturing, construction, banking, telecommunications, oil and gas where contract staffing and casualisation has become the order of the day as workers in these sectors no longer have regularised employment terms.

Good jobs are falling prey to corporate cost-cutting moves at the expense of working families. Too many jobs are being outsourced, contracted out, or reclassified under a barrage of legal definitions designed to keep pay down, benefits low, and the unions out.



Contract Staffing and Precarious Work

Contract staffing and precarious work refers to all forms of employment that are not permanent in nature. The term contract implies that the job is not of a permanent nature, while the word ‘precarious’ refers to the relative higher insecurity associated with it.

It is sad to note that permanent jobs are gradually being eroded by an increasing reliance by employers on labour hire via employment agencies. This is because employers have come to realise that dismissing workers with no rights to severance pay or notice periods is a cheap and easy way for them to reduce their workforces. This trend has had significant and far reaching impacts on employment; given the dangers that precarious employment poses for society.

“Some employers in Nigeria argue that the use of outsourcing in some cases may not necessarily be to cut costs but to help them concentrate on their core services while contracting out the ancillary services to labour and service contractors who specialise in these areas.

“This practice also gives them the freedom to ‘hire and fire’ casual employees at will. However, for the worker the issue is that there are no better options available to meet her economic needs. Where she is faced with the choice between casual/contract work and no work at all, the former will be the choice” (Danesi, 2011, p3).

More worrisome is the fact that most multinational companies operating in the country bring in expatriates to take full-time employment with all the benefits that accrue to the job while Nigerians are placed on contract which is being renewed without benefits. This contravenes Section 7 (1) of the Labour Act, Cap 198, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 1990.

The Act provides that: “Not later than three months after the beginning of a worker’s period of employment with an employer, the employer shall give to the worker a written statement specifying the terms and conditions of employment, which include the nature of the employment and if the contract is for a fixed term, the date when the contract expires.”

Also Section 17 (2) (b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria requires that “the sanctity of the human person shall be recognised and human dignity shall be maintained and enhanced.”

The ILO, having recognised the dignity of the human person, has come up with ILO Conventions which are labelled core labour standards based on human rights especially the respect for the dignity of labour.

These Conventions address workers’ rights internationally in the following areas: the right to organise and bargain collectively; the right to be free from slavery or bonded labour; the elimination of worst form of child labour; the right to be free from discrimination; and the right not to be unfairly dismissed.

However, findings have shown that employees engaged as contract staff or in non-standard work arrangement are usually denied the above rights in many organisations and this phenomenon has continued to elicit concern among stakeholders.

Factors Hindering Fight against Casualisation

Analysts have blamed this on the current challenges facing industrial relations practice in the country, and key among these are weak and unfavourable labour laws, the ease with which government and employers abandon signed agreements with the labour unions at the slightest opportunity, the corruption in the judiciary and judgments that create doubt as to whether the judiciary is still the last hope of the common man.

Other challenges include the “profit before workers” syndrome, the global financial crises and the unprecedented rate of unemployment in Nigeria, increasing use of outsourcing, temporary employment contracts and other forms of precarious work to undermine trade union rights.

Chairman, Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) Rivers State Council, Mr. Chika Onuegbu, described the current labour laws applied by the law courts in cases of termination /dismissal from employment as harsh, unfair and inequitable.

He added that the law does not take due cognisance of the circumstance of the Nigerian worker and the Nigerian working environment.

“The common law principle of Master and Servant Relationship, which is applied by the law courts in Nigeria including the National Industrial Court (NIC) in cases of termination /dismissals from employment in the so-called employments without statutory flavour (employments in the private sector and a few public sector employment) is harsh, unfair and inequitable as it does not take due cognisance of the circumstance of the Nigerian worker and the Nigerian working environment.

“The principle provides that in all employment governed only by the agreements of the parties, and not by statute, removal by way of termination/dismissal will be in the form agreed to, which in most cases is as contained in the letter of appointment.

“Any other form connotes only wrongful termination or dismissal but not to declare such dismissal/termination null and void. The only remedy is a claim for damages for that wrongful dismissal and that claim is limited to the conditions of service which in most cases are stated in the letter of appointment.

“The principle even goes further to state that a master is entitled to dismiss his servant from his employment for good or for bad reasons or for no reason at all, and that such an action, even if unlawful, brings to an end the relationship of master and servant, employer and employee,” he explained.

Speaking further Onuegbu observed that the bargaining power of the individual worker is of little importance in practice, especially in a country like Nigeria where the rate of unemployment is unprecedented and people are forced to sign any document in the name of contract.

This, he stated, accounts for the reason why contract staffing and outsourcing have become the order of the day in the country.

“Let me also add that there are many Nigerians that work without any form of signed contract or agreement. They are usually referred to as casuals. The bad economy has made it such that despite the fact that casualisation is illegal under the Nigerian labour laws, millions of Nigerian workers fall under this category. Nigerians are on daily basis forced by the harsh economic situation to work in the most debilitating conditions without any form of signed contract or agreement just to earn a living.

“Also, some companies in the oil and gas industry now claim that the Nigerian oil and gas industry content Development Act mandate them to outsource 90 per cent of all jobs in their organisation and therefore an excuse to embark on all manner of contract staffing and casualisation. We have repeatedly asked them to show us the specific provision(s) in the Nigerian Content Act that allows them to do so,” he added.

Onuegbu, who is also the Industrial Relations Officer (IRO) of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), said political patronage and interference amongst others have hampered the fight against casualisation.

He explained that labour contracts are given as political patronage to politicians and powerful community leaders in the country.

“In order to ensure that more people get these contracts, the contracts duration are reduced. This further exposes the workers. The “employers” are not interested in the career of their “employees”. After all the labour contract is their share of the national cake. They also rarely meet the minimum standards prescribed for labour contractors by the Federal Ministry of Labour. Many do not have labour recruiters licences, are not aware of their responsibilities as employers and have no capacity to meet these labour standards,” he stated.

President, Women Arise for Change Initiative and Campaign for Democracy, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, described the casualisation of workforce as slave trade, noting that Nigerian workers have become third class citizens in their fatherland.

The issue of casualisation, most especially in the private sector, she stated, has become a very disturbing phenomenon noting that it is nothing but a flagrant abuse of the rights of workers and all hands must be on deck to stop it.

Speaking further, she said the harrowing experience Nigerian workers go through in the hand of their employers in the name of casualisation is a clear indication that workers have become third class citizens in their fatherland.

“I have wondered often time how on earth some people would be so callous as to take delight in being wicked and ruthless with their employees. It also baffles me that workers can become third-class citizens in their own fatherland; we see foreign employers treat Nigerian workers with disdain, and we see continuous derogation of the average Nigerian worker through casualisation.

“Part of the pains casual workers have to go through are that they never benefit from special packages like others; most of the time they are treated like lepers. They never have the full entitlements on the job allowances, transportation, leave allowances, medicals etc.

“As I speak, over 2,500 Chinese artisans are engaged on full time basis at Lafarge WAPCO Cement at Ewekoro; over 5,000 are said to be working at an ongoing electrification project at Papalanto, with over 3,000 in Sango at Ado-Odo Ota Local Government of Ogun State working as artisans in different companies; whereas Nigerian workers are placed on very nasty allowances as casual workers. It is high time we did something concrete about it,” she said.

Reacting also to the issue of casualisation, President General of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), Mr. Peter Esele, strongly condemned what he described as the continuous and flagrant abuse of the laws of Nigeria by employers particularly in the area of expatriate quota abuse.

According to him, the institutionalisation of flexible employment models globally, as championed by the World Trade Organisation (WTO), fuelled the enslavement of workers through casualisation and contract staffing.

These categories of workers, he said, are outrightly denied the right to unionisation and collective bargaining as entrenched in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and other international labour conventions.

“Workers are denied their inalienable right to unionisation and collective bargaining in the face of intimidation, harassment and threat by the employers. We demand that workers should be given the freedom of choice to unionisation, which should be based on offer of first refusal by the worker if he decides not to belong,” Esele stated.

In his opinion, Executive Director, African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development, Dr. Otive Igbuzor, said it was rather unfortunate that issues of workers right, appropriate strategy and development approach have not been the major issues of national discourse, but rather leaders are concentrating on zoning at the expense of improved welfare for the masses.

He observed that the national and international instruments have been devised to protect workers’ rights which have been codified in national laws and international labour conventions and recommendations of the ILO in addition to constitutional provisions which also confer on them certain rights as citizens, but added that these instruments are observed in the breach because employers of labour value their profits more than the workers.

He maintained that the importance of a dedicated, healthy, knowledgeable and motivated workforce to the development of any nation cannot be over-emphasised, adding that the quality of a workforce affects the productivity and development indices of any country.

Igbuzor, who observed the excessive exploitation of workers in Nigeria, however, noted that the level of consciousness on the part of workers has not been developed to the level of taking action. He affirmed that the role of trade unions has been undermined in recent years, adding that the responsibility for the protection of worker’s rights lies with workers.



Govt Efforts to Tackle Precarious Employment

In the last three years, government has taken various steps, among which was to review the guidelines, conditions and issuance of licences to outsourcing firms in order to ensure the creation of decent employment, and adoption of best practices in workplaces.

Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu, has continued to express government determination to ensure that the rights of Nigerian workers are adequately protected by operators in the industry.

Wogu reiterated that the creation of decent employment is one of the basic concerns of the present administration, stressing that the focus is on creating a conducive working environment with adoption of international best practices.

“Even though outsourcing is an internationally acceptable practice, it should not be allowed to result into indecent employment. Some companies lack the technical and managerial competencies to deliver on their objectives to the country.

“One of the ills of unfair labour practice, which is of great concern to the ministry, is casualisation, which has denied workers the right to freedom of association. Government is putting in place policies and programmes that will promote good working environment and human life,” he said.

Though the labour ministry has made effort to comprehensively address the ever-burgeoning precarious form of employment in the nation’s economy, it has not been up and doing in effectively monitoring the activities of private sector employers; particularly those in the Niger Delta region.

Also, the Federal Government has not done enough in checking the abuse of expatriate quota, despite several regulations that could be leveraged to curb the phenomenon, such as: the regulation that stipulates that before any organisation can “import” workers such position must be advertised for Nigerians, foreigners can only be engaged if there are no Nigerians to take up the appointment.

In his opinion, the TUC president said the labour ministry has not met the expectations of Nigerians in tackling the issue of casualisation and other forms of exploitation of workers’ rights. According to him, nothing concrete has come out of several meetings that have been called to deliberate on the issue.

“The ministry has not been able to tackle effectively the issue of casualisation because we are still where we are and casualisation has been on the increase in the banking sector and the oil and gas sector. Nothing seriously has been done to comprehensively address the issue. It is still more like a talk,” Esele stated.



Stepping up

Although stakeholders in the labour industry have affirmed that the challenges are enormous, they contended that surmounting these challenges will require the collective efforts of every Nigerian.

For instance Onuegbu, while proffering solution to precarious employment, said: “It requires not just the struggle of the labour movement but the organised action of the Nigerian people. The trade unions, the civil society, religious organisations and community based groups must all come together to fight these challenges.

“Those affected are our brothers and sisters. Besides, there are several millions of Nigerians workers who are afraid of joining the unions because of victimisation and fear of dismissal. So the challenges can only be surmounted by a united action by the Nigerian people, of course championed by the TUC and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC)”.



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