Contest| International Labour Day|Importance of Labour

IMPORTANCE OF LABOUR

The importance of labour can never be overemphasized, labour is the fuel and the driving force behind land and capital. It is indeed one of the pillars of economic development.

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Labour can be either be physical or mental exertion of the mind of the body for a certain amount called wage.

In our world today, the term dignity in labour is an age-old myth. As we celebrate workers day today, I hope we do not only celebrate the high ranking ones; we should also celebrate the illiterate ones, the maltreated ones, the ones whose voice has been stolen, and the ones who work like lions but receive ants wages.

Workers' Rights Advocacy:

Today we should be reminded to be the voice to our voiceless workers, and to our fellow employers, create a comfortable working environment for our workers both mentally and physically, without further ado; I proceed to share the story of Ethan, a secondary school dropout who lost his dad, as the first child he had to shoulder the responsibilities of the house with his mum.

He had a large family and was forced to learn a skill as a mason, with that skill, he and his family survived. He managed to put his siblings in the nearest affordable school. Since Ethan could read, he found a notice on the wall stating that a construction company needed workers and the pay was attractive. The screening exercise was to be held the next day, he hurriedly went to the place of interview. He reached there even before the security. Ethan wasn't alone, he met with Adam a welder.
Adam was a family man, after waiting for the boss and other interviewees to arrive. Adam and ethan met with Mr Kole the contractor. After interviewing Ethan and Adam, Mr Kole found out that they were illy educated and were cheaper to employ. He saw it as a great opportunity to cash out, with their poor level of education he knew that they didn't know their rights and do would obey his whims without complain.
Without hesitation he employed them. Ethan and Adam were very happy when they were employed to work for the company, they saw it as answered prayers. As a mason Ethan, never received gloves or helmets for his workload, even though there were danger of falls.

They were other people like him who were employed as well. They were not given proper protection equipment. One day, a piece of block fell down and hit ethan's leg, luckily he wasn't fractured, when he went to his boss to complain, Mr Kole blamed Ethan and deducted the price of treatment from his salary. From verbal insults to abrupt decrease in wages, Ethan and his colleagues suffered. When they realized that they were being underpaid, they tried to protest but Mr Kole having connection in high places had them arrested and no noise was heard again.

Mr adam the welder had no safety goggles and occasionally had sparks injuries but couldn't complain cause he desperately needed the money. One day the sparks from the welding machine entered his right eyes and he was badly injured, his boss was less concerned and immediately hired a new welder. Mr adam was broke and helpless after using his salary to pay for his hospital bills on his way out he met a human right activist who educated him on his worker's right. With the right help he sued Mr Kole for human right abuse and he and his fellow workers were paid for damages.

In today's society the uneducated ones usually known as the unskilled labour, usually have their right abused. This ones do not know their rights and are abused because of their ignorance. Most times the people who abuse this very rights are the ones in the right place to help them, these ones have no voices and hence are mistreated.
From verbal insults their educated bosses give them, to the racism suffered by most who work abroad, there is a need for enlightenment. From the right working environment, to the right equipment and protective covering if need be.
Workers right advocacy right treatment of employees, workers should be allowed good and working health insurance, early payment of salaries, etc.

Workplace Mental Health:

Last but not the least is the most ignored which is the "workplace mental health*, the mind is the driving force of labour and a healthy mind increases productivity. Employers and co-workers should avoid looking down on worker's below them educationally and otherwise. Discrimination and esteem destroying words should be avoided even when the offender is in the work. Employers should give their workers breaks from work, early closing time to help workers balance their life.

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I know the writeup may not be what you want, it would be shocking that most workers do not know their rights and hence that are always abused. I write on the need to enlighten workers on their rights. Thanks for reading.
I invite my friends @comfortpeter @goodybest and @pandora201 to participate in this contest.
Special thanks to @deepak94 for organising this contest.

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