Contract workers lament injustice of casualisation

The joy of Tolu Aloba (not real name) knew no bounds when he got a job in one of the customer care centres of a popular telecoms firm. But the once overjoyed Aloba said he lost interest in the job when reality dawned on him two years after when his mode of employment was still on contract basis.

Asked if his employer did not initially inform him about his mode of job offer, he said he was told that chances of being offered full employment were high.

Aloba, who is still in the employment of the firm, described contract staffing as modern slavery. He said such practice was becoming a trend among corporate organisations and could encourage cheap labour if it was not checked.

He added, ‘‘Though I work for a telecoms firm, I do not deceive myself that I am their employee in the real sense of formal employment. In fact, my work schedule is so tasking yet the pay is nothing to write home about. Contract staffing is now a trend in the corporate world as a way of cutting cost.’’

Aloba’s case is similar to Tade Alonge’s. The difference is that Alonge threw in the towel after two years. He said work benefits were denied contract employees but given to those on full employment.

According to him, apart from the disparity in salary, each employee on contract is expected to work for at least six hours daily.

He stated, ‘‘The work schedule of contract workers is flexible with some employees operating either morning or night shift. Though no worker can be on a fixed work schedule except on a rare case, the payment for night duty is higher. Daily pay for morning duty is about N600 while night duty is N1,000. At the end of the month, a worker’s salary ranges between N50,000 and N60,000.’’

He also said annual leave days are usually 15 days while  five days are for sick leave.

“No any extra allowance or bonus. The payment for leave is calculated with the amount payable for morning duty. For the sick leave, one’s daily pay is automatically deducted when one is not in the office even if one is ill,’’ he said.

Also, Felicia Aigbodion, who has been working for six years as a contract worker with one of the leading telecoms firms in the country, said there exists a huge discrepancy in the salary of both contract and full employees.

She noted that the two categories of workers, in most cases, are employed with the same qualification.

Aigbodion further said contract workers have no specific department they work hence could be deployed to customer care, human resources, network group or marketing units.

She said, ‘‘Workers on full employment partake in profit sharing of telecoms firms but contract workers do not. If a contract employee is offered N70, 000 monthly, half of the money is guaranteed at month end while the remaining will be tied to productivity, attendance and work schedule among other conditions. So, at the end of the day, one reason or the other will be given to justify the non-payment of the remaining amount.’’

Same work scenario manifests in the banking sector including some companies run by expatriates.

Mr. Ifedayo Oriloye is a 29-year-old Nigerian and holder of a degree in Theology. Before he went to a theology school and took up a full-time ministry, he searched for a job for about two years. His search eventually paid off when he got a job in a company run by expatriates in Ogba area of Lagos State.

Oriloye told SUNDAY PUNCH that he was glad to get the job until he saw the working condition in the place. He added that he became frustrated when he was not offered a letter for regular employment after working for a year.

He said, ‘‘I was told to start work after the employment. Since I was in dire need of a job, I did not bother to scrutinise the offer. Two days after I resumed work, it dawned on me that the company produces more than what it registered for. They registered one product but in production, they do some other things. ‘’

According to him, the duration of work is 7am to 7pm, from Monday to Sunday.

“The work period is divided into morning and afternoon shift. One is required to work for 12 hours and payment is N50 per hour. I worked there for one and half years before I was offered full employment. I did not know why I was so lucky because I met some workers there who had worked for more than eight years without the management changing their casual employment status. There was a Ghanaian who worked for 10 years before his employment was regularised,” he added.

He further said he was sacked after he worked for four years without any gratuity.

Seyi Ishola’s case is different from Oriloye’s. He said he worked in an Ikeja-based motorcycle assembling factory as a casual labourer for six years and was frustrated with the maltreatment in the place before he left the organisation. Ishola stated that the company lacked adequate safety measures for workers.

He said, ‘‘Workers carry metals and some are without safety helmets, boots and coats to protect themselves against injury. It is sad that some people lose parts of their bodies during work and all they get as compensation is a meager amount after making a noise. The condition of work in some of the companies is appalling. But the government is not sectioning them because the majority of the firms pay taxes.”

A worker in one of the expatriate companies, who simply identified herself as Amaka, told  that the authorities in some of the firms maltreat workers because they (workers) begged to be engaged in the first place.

She added that many of the workers in the companies are populated by youths, who seek employment in the companies to save money to further their education or run a business.

Amaka noted that none of those employed with her was asked to produce a certificate.

She stated, ‘‘Some people are paid N70 or N100 per hour depending on the department they find themselves. I think the companies are doing what they like because of the level of unemployment in the country. The workers know that the work situation is not good but they have no choice, after all they will not steal.’’

When our correspondent visited two of the companies located in Agege and Ikeja on Thursday, some employment seekers milled around the companies surroundings. Nobody was also available to speak to our correspondent as a notice warns visitors to stay off the premises.

One of the employment seekers in the Ikeja-based firm, Benjamin Stephen, said he had been visiting the place for two weeks. He added that he desired to sit for next year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination and wished to work to save money to purchase the form.

Asked if he was aware of the paltry pay and work condition in such a company, the 17-year-old Stephen said, ‘‘My parents cannot provide everything for me because I have four siblings and I am the first child. People say work does not kill but hunger does. I will be careful and once I make enough money to purchase the UTME form and other pressing needs, I will stop it.’’

Speaking on the development, Secretary of the Joint Action Front, Mr. Abiodun Aremu, identified what he described as the non-unionisation in some companies as responsible for the casual employment and ill-treatment of workers.

Aremu stated that once an organisation lacks unionism, negotiation for improved welfare condition for workers would be a difficult thing to achieve.

He said, ‘‘Contract staffing and casualisation are not acceptable. Privatisation and deregulation encourage sharp practices in the working environment. When there is a non-unionisation policy in place in a firm, the security of workers, their welfare and other things cannot be adequately addressed. Under the guise of foreign investment, all forms of anti-labour laws are practiced by some firms. There will be lack of adequate pension, gratuity, maternity leave for mothers and full-time employment.’’

The JAF secretary noted that on October 7, marking the annual celebration of the World Day for Decent Work, the group joined forces with the workers of firms without unionisation to demand for the rights of workers.

“We protested at two industries in Ikeja, Lagos to examine the state of workers there.  It is vital for every firm to adhere to the Convention 153 of the International Labour Organisation which Nigeria is a signatory,” Aremu said.

Also, a lawyer and human rights activist, Mr. Bamidele Aturu, said the nation’s legal system was in shambles on the issue of employing people as casual workers.

He noted that there was no regulation which allowed such practice.  He said, ‘‘Section 7 of the Labour Act is clear that workers people must be given terms of employment within a period of time.’’

He described casualisation as illegal and contrary to the Labour Act.

Some critics have also identified the economic situation in the country and increasing rate of unemployment as responsible for the scenario.

Deputy President, Nigeria Labour Congress, Mr. Promise Adewusi, described casual employment as illegal and inhuman.

Adewusi said, ‘‘It is unconscionable and against good conscience. It is a reprehensible way of re-introducing daily paid work in Nigeria. Because no matter the good reason for missing work (ill health or others). You don’t get paid for any day you missed work.”

He added that the union would continue to protest against such indecent work aberrations.