By Amin Kef Sesay
In commemoration of International Workers Day, the President of the Sierra Leone Employers’ Federation (SLEF), Kobi Walker, on 1st May, 2021, spoke on the significance of reviewing Sierra Leone’s Labour Laws in a bid to improve workers welfare in line with international law and best practices. He made this remarks during his statement at the commemoration of International Workers Day at Family Kingdom, Aberdeen in Freetown.
He expressed appreciation to God for keeping them alive to see this remarkable day, adding that unfortunately, some of their colleagues are amongst the over 3.1 million citizens globally, who have died as a result of the COVID-19 virus, and others are amongst the over 150 million people worldwide who have been infected by the virus and are either quarantined or in specially designated COVID-19 hospitals or treatment centers.
Kobi Walker stated that last year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they were unable to celebrate International Workers Day, adding that last year, they also lost, on the 23rd April 2020, Mr. Jennings A D Wright, President of the Sierra Leone Labor Congress, and used the opportunity, on behalf of the Federation and all Employers, to appreciate the commitment and contribution of the late trade unionist in ensuring Industrial peace in the country.
He informed all that the theme for this year’s celebration is “Covid-19 and the future of Work in Sierra Leone”, which he said is a relevant and appropriate theme, as employers and employees all over the world have ushered in the “new normal” way of working.
He pointed out that in April 2020, the Federation and the Sierra Leone Labor Congress issued a joint statement on the “COVID-19 outbreak in Sierra Leone and how as a nation they can collectively respond’’ the statement included measures to support the health sector, workers, businesses and the hard hit sectors amongst others, and that a copy of the statement was sent to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security for onward transmission to the Government.
The President of the Federation maintained that they are gratified that the Government received numerous accolades from world leaders and global health watchers on Government’s laudable efforts to contain the dreaded Covid-19 virus, adding that they are also grateful to Government for incorporating some of their recommendations in the Joint Statement referred to above in their response package (some of these include, assistance to the tourism sector, availability of foreign currencies from the Central Bank, stimulus packages, redundancies prevention measures etc. )
“It is instructive to mention that, though the Covid-19 pandemic has been contained, most businesses have incorporated this concept in their business model, leading to enormous reduction of overheads, including office space rentals, running cost of operating an office and other costs associated with running a business from the office. Another cost saving legacy is the concept of virtual training .This has significantly reduced the cost of training, as quality training is now available at affordable cost or at no cost, all designed to upscale skills sets and human capital development within and across organizations and businesses” he maintained.
In conclusion Kobi Walker revealed that the Federation will be initiating discussions with their social partners (Ministry of Labour and Social Security and the Sierra Leone Labour Congress) as to how they can ensure that they position themselves to appropriate tools needed as they usher in the new normal as well as inculcate in the mindset of their fellow employers and employees that there is now a paradigm shift in their ways of working going forward.
On his part, Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh, Vice President of Sierra Leone, said that Sierra Leoneans should be mindful of updating labour laws, even though there is need to update the laws, adding that labour laws, when updated, should serve as an incentive to create more jobs rather than stopping employment.
The Honourable Vice President stated that Government takes into consideration the creation of equitable environment for the employers who provide the jobs. He furthered that the interest of employers should be taken into consideration to ensure that industries and companies do not close down after updating the laws. Updating labour laws should be linked to enhancing job creation and not job loss, Dr. Jalloh stated.
Vice President Jalloh expressed delight for the 2021 workers’ day celebration theme, which states “COVID-19 and the Future of Work in Sierra Leone”. He informed the participants about the elaboration of a program called the Quick Economic Response Program to manage CoVID-19 after President Bio had announced the first index corona case.
Vice President Jalloh maintained that the economy of Sierra Leone is viable to enable the creation of jobs, payment of salaries, and support to healthcare services. But Dr. Jalloh informed the gathering about the government losing 1.5 trillion Leones in revenue in the year 2020 alone. He stated that such an amount would have been used on essential development programs.
Government, Vice President Jalloh said, has the responsibility to create the enabling environment for job creation, adding that government is making serious efforts to ensure Sierra Leone becomes an investment competitive country. Dr. Jalloh therefore informed the Sierra Leone Labour Congress and Sierra Leone Employers Federation and others present at the ceremony about the establishment of the National Investment Board. The Board is set up to look at obstacles to competitive investment in Sierra Leone, stressing that with competitive investment; people will be encouraged to do business in Sierra Leone.
