ABUJA, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)-The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Joe Ajaero, on Friday advocated for imposing a tax on the profits of technology giants and automated industries to finance extensive retraining and upskilling initiatives for workers who risk displacement in the age of artificial intelligence.
Speaking at the 2025 Conference of the Labour Writers Association of Nigeria in Ibadan, Ajaero cautioned that although AI is often portrayed as a symbol of efficiency and progress, corporations are exploiting it to intensify worker exploitation, undermine labour rights, and widen inequality.
The event, which took place at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Ibadan, was themed ‘The Future of Work in the Era of Artificial Intelligence.’
“We must bargain for comprehensive retraining and upskilling programmes, funded by a tax on the excessive profits of the tech giants and automated industries,” Ajaero stated.
He added, “Our struggle is to socialise the benefits of AI and robotise the burdens, ensuring it leads to a society with more leisure, greater security, and shared prosperity for the working class.”
The NLC president described the rise of AI as “the modern face of the class struggle,” warning that workers risk being driven into deeper precarity as companies prioritise profit.
“They sell us a narrative of efficiency and progress, but we must see it for what it truly is: a tool for maximising profit by de-skilling jobs, casualising labour, and ultimately, weakening the collective power of the working people,” the labour leader asserted.
He warned that without proper safeguards, AI could reshape labour relations in ways that diminish collective bargaining, discourage unionisation, and create a digitally dispossessed underclass.
Ajaero also called on unions and policymakers to push for protective laws.
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“We must fight for robust legal frameworks that guarantee the ‘Right to Disconnect’, strictly limit algorithmic surveillance, and ensure that productivity gains from AI are shared through shorter workweeks with no loss of pay,” he said.
Addressing labour writers, Ajaero reminded them of their crucial role in amplifying workers’ struggles, emphasising that journalists remain vital to the labour movement.
“Your typewriters, recorders, and keyboards are no less important than our placards and negotiation tables. They are the instruments with which we shape the narrative, counter the propaganda of the bourgeoisie, and awaken the consciousness of the masses,” he told the delegates.
Referencing recent disputes at the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical complex, he accused the company of breaching Nigeria’s Labour Act, the Constitution, and international conventions by preventing workers from joining unions.
“The recent violations of the rights of workers to join unions and the reckless attempts at de-unionisation of workers, all in the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical, bear testimony to the unrelenting and pervasive power of corrosive capitalism,” Ajaero said.
He also condemned the use of media to spread misinformation, alleging that efforts were made to shift blame onto workers instead of addressing legal violations.
Ajaero concluded by reaffirming that unity remains the strongest weapon against corporate and technological exploitation.
“There is no room for neutrality in the face of this attempt to subjugate us to the forces of oppression. To stand on the sidelines is to side with the oppressor,” he said. “They have their AI, but we have our WE. Our collective power, our solidarity, is the ultimate intelligence no machine can replicate or break.”