on the part of the workers is likely to reduce the likelihood of infringement, while it may reduce the hostility of the consuming public. The truth is that some of the infringements thrive on the ignorance of workers of the legal/legislative protection available to them. As such the unions should devote a lot of efforts and resources to awareness raising and advocacy. This awareness raising should also entail getting workers themselves to act as rights monitors ready and willing to report abuse of workers' rights to the union and relevant state authorities. We are suggesting this because in the final analysis those who are profiting from the status-quo do not have any strong incentive to move against it. Even if the unions are strong, the struggle to enforce workers' rights should not rest on the shoulders of workers and their unions alone. Workers alone cannot take on the might of the capitalist state and employers, particularly the transnational corporations. Non-state actors such as NGOs that are interested in widening the scope of human rights should be involved. This is particularly necessary given the prevailing circumstances in which Nigerian workers and trade unions find themselves today. We have gone past the stage at which the state and private employers appeal to some base 'national' sentiments as justifications for abridgement of workers' rights. If the society truly values the contribution of workers to the economic development process, such should be acknowledged by according them basic human dignity and adequate compensation for their efforts in generating the commonwealth. This should be reflected in a regime of humane and fair conditions of work and terms of employment. Anything short of this amounts to begging the issue. To complement the above, we strongly believe the human rights groups and activists should be interested in public interest litigation such that they can take up cases, on behalf of workers, against employers who routinely breach provisions of the relevant laws. The costs of litigation and negative publicity generated may also serve as a deterrent to the employers. In addition to litigation, advocacy on workers' rights should be taken as a major plank of the work of the NGOs. The trade union movement and the civil society organisations should liaise with their counterparts in other parts of the world to campaign against those foreign companies who violate the rights of their workers in Nigeria. Consumer boycott campaigns and social labeling should be considered. Workers, their organisations and allies within the labour movement should develop appropriate strategies and means to ensure that people work in dignity. This may include inter-sectoral actions and sympathy action by workers and unions that may not 73