The labour movement must reconnect with workers, adopt new strategies and embrace technology, including artificial intelligence, to effectively defend workers’ interests, the National President of the Precision, Electrical and Related Equipment Senior Staff Association (PERESSA), Comrade Rufus Olusesan, has said.
Olusesan made the call on Wednesday in Lagos while delivering a solidarity message at the 2026 World Day for Decent Work programme organised by the Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI). He said the growing disconnect between labour leaders and rank-and-file workers had weakened the movement and affected its ability to effectively engage government and employers on issues affecting workers.
Speaking at the programme, Olusesan said labour leaders needed to become more responsive to their members to regain their confidence and strengthen the labour movement.
“We are not responsive to our members, and that is the major problem that we have,” he said.
Olusesan said the labour movement must embrace technology, including artificial intelligence, while strengthening workers’ education and changing its orientation to meet the realities of the modern workplace.
He said labour leaders should remain committed to the movement’s traditional responsibility of challenging exploitation and defending workers against practices that prioritised profit at their expense.
The PERESSA president said the struggle for workers’ rights should go beyond bread-and-butter demands to include efforts to influence policies that affected the wider economy.
He said young workers were increasingly confronted with precarious employment, low wages, casualisation and the need to migrate abroad in search of decent work.
Olusesan urged employers to stop the casualisation of young workers, saying prolonged short-term contracts denied workers security and dignity.
“A young worker on a three-month contract renewed for five years is not a worker; he is an industrial slave being brutally exploited,” he said.
Olusesan called on the government to invest in skills development and create stable jobs for young Nigerians instead of relying mainly on palliatives.
He also urged young workers to organise, join trade unions, acquire new skills and participate actively in decisions affecting their future.
Olusesan said the labour movement needed stronger grassroots structures and greater engagement with its members to effectively mobilise workers when necessary.
The union leader expressed concern over the precarious economic situation facing workers, saying the movement must intensify advocacy for policies capable of cushioning the effects of inflation and improving living conditions.
He said additional revenue accruing to the government from increased oil prices should be deployed to strengthen the economy and cushion the impact of rising cost of living.
According to him, palliatives alone cannot address the economic challenges confronting Nigerians, hence the need for sustainable policies that will improve workers’ welfare.
Olusesan said the labour movement could not remain silent when economic policies negatively affected workers and their families.
He urged labour leaders to strengthen their engagement with the government while ensuring that such engagement was backed by effective mobilisation and the confidence of their members.
The PERESSA president said the changing nature of work, particularly the emergence of new technologies and young workers, required the labour movement to change its strategies.
He called for unity among labour leaders and stronger solidarity among workers to build a movement capable of effectively responding to contemporary workplace and economic challenges.
Olusesan said the ultimate goal should be to create an economy where young Nigerians could find decent and sustainable employment at home rather than being compelled to migrate in search of opportunities.
Also speaking, Dr Femi Omoniyi, Managing Consultant, FS Consulting, urged labour leaders to adopt knowledge-based approaches in negotiating workers’ demands to achieve faster resolution of industrial disputes.
Omoniyi said prolonged industrial disputes could work to the advantage of government and management when labour leaders failed to clearly articulate their demands and proposed solutions.
He said some matters that could be resolved within months often dragged on for years because of prolonged confrontations without adequate focus on practical solutions.
Omoniyi said labour leaders must understand the issues confronting workers and articulate their demands from a position of knowledge.
“We must articulate our point from a position of knowledge, where we know exactly what we are demanding for and how we want it to be resolved,” he said.
Omoniyi said labour leaders should combine firmness with effective negotiation, stressing that understanding how to manage the interests of government, management and workers was critical to achieving results.
He cited the struggle over pensioners’ demands for increased benefits as an example of how sustained engagement and negotiation could lead to resolution.
Omoniyi said the labour movement had engaged relevant authorities, including the National Assembly, during the struggle before the matter began to move towards resolution.
He said effective leadership required knowing what workers were going through, defining their demands clearly and identifying how such demands could be resolved.
He advised labour leaders to remain committed to their members while avoiding unnecessary prolongation of disputes that could delay the achievement of desired outcomes.
