NEW MINIMUM WAGE, GOVT & LABOUR UNIONS
The Labour Congress should become more realistic in their demands to allow the new minimum wage to be implemented. Lowest paid workers are getting a 66% increase from 18k to 30k. According to reports, Labour Union is now demanding...
...the same 66% increase for all cadre of workers including the top level 17 senior workers. This is very unrealistic.
Insisting on same level of increase across the board will actually make the increase benefit the senior staff more than the lowest paid.A 12k increase in minimum wage can become a 200k increase for some senior workers if Labour has its way.
The government is proposing a smaller increase for the senior civil servants so that the wage bills can be affordable. The mistake the government made in this saga......is not putting all their cards on the table before the elections. Simply agreeing to pay the new minimum wage without explaining what happens to the senior workers is naive.
The wage bill of govt could increase by on average 70% if Labour has its way.How will States who currently cannot pay 18k now afford such massive increase. Labour should stop playing games and allow the poorest workers to get their pay rise quickly. Higher paid workers can have smaller increases so govt can live within its means.The minimum wage legislation is faulty in my view. A law that states a worker in Lagos must be paid same amount as worker doing same work in Katsina is crazy and unreasonable. A year’s rent in Lagos that cost N1million will cost N100k in Katsina.Yet the workers are expected by law to be paid same salary. But until we change the law to allow variable wages to reflect genuine affordability of states; we have to work within the law as it is. There is also an important matter of Productivity.Nigerian workers are amongst d least productive in the world my most indices. Various factors are responsible for this and that is a subject for a future thread. I support the poorest workers being better paid; I am not so sure about same level of increase for all those fat cats.This mess is what happens when folks focus too much on the headlines & neglect the fine details. In war, you choose your battles & you don’t fight war that is blatantly unwinable. The Labour unions should borrow some sense & allow the poorest workers to begin to get their due......increase without making the fat cats Permanent Secretaries equal beneficiaries. I hope common sense will prevail to break this impasse. Labour Unions should not let the best become the enemy of the good.
By: Dr Charles Omole
