Workers renew push for better deals

Workers renew push for better deals Even with the new minimum wage which workers say will be enjoyed by about two per cent of the workforce in the country, stakeholders have appealed to the Federal Government to come up with policies that will enhance the welfare of workers, TOBA AGBOOLA reports

ACCORDING to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), every worker should benefit from the minimum wage through sectoral negotiations that would be spearheaded by the unions and state councils. In principle, according to ILO, minimum wage should afford adequate protection to all workers in an employment, regardless of sex, age and even migrant workers, regardless of  contractual arrangements.

It says further that minimum wages should also apply to workers in non-standard form of employment, including workers on fixedterm contracts and other forms of temporary work, temporary agency work and other contractual arrangements involving multiple parties, or part-time work.

It is, however, a bad news for domestic workers such as househelps, gardeners and gatemen, who are not captured in the new wage structure, as the law also applies to employers that have over 25 workers on their payrolls.

Of course, such domestic workers might still benefit if their employers have over 25 of them. Speaking with The Nation, President, Chemical and Non-Metallic Products Senior Staff Association of Nigeria(CANMPSSAN), Comrade Segun David, said the new minimum wage does not apply to his sector, as only two per cent of the workforce, which represents the civil servants, is expected to enjoy the new wage.

He said the payment of the new wage in the private sector would not be easy, because, at the moment, there are firms that owe salaries and some pay in arrears.

He, therefore, called on the federal and state governments to make workers welfare top priority in their efforts to promote good governance across the country.

This, according to him can be achieved through good policy. He said the importance of workers to nation building could not be over-emphasised.

David, who described workers as “the engine room of the economy” of any nation, said regular improvement of their welfare packages was necessary to enable them overcome economic hardships.

He said: “The impact of the economy in the last one year on the workforce, the companies and generally the sector, is terrible.

There are so many challenges and we have been trying to manage it. The prices of goods have significantly gone up and the salary is not increasing. “When we talk about the minimum wage, it does not have much impact on the entire

workforce. For instance, only two per cent of the entire workforce will enjoy the minimum wage and that represents the civil servants. It has nothing to do with us in this sector.

“The price of goods and services have gone up because of inflation and tax. And recently, the Federal Government announced another increase in value added tax (VAT).

Just last month, many of our member companies have gone under. Some have to move out of the country. “ For instance, Cadbury now outsourced.

The bulk of their products have been transferred to another company. The same thing with IBWA. The company has been shut down for close to two years now. The management is at large. No gratuity, pensions for the workers.

These are some of the challenges. He said his union is making moves to collaborate with others in order to address the issue.

“We are doing everything to collaborate with other unions because this is the only way we can address some of the issues affecting us.

When you go together, you go far. We need to form a formidable force. You will discover that government is using divide and rule.

This is what is happening in some unions. So, coming together is very important to be able to achieve results,” he said.

Read Also: Governors restate commitment to minimum wage payment

Former General Secretary of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade  Peter OzoEson, said all categories of workers are supposed to benefit from the new salary scale that would be done to reflect the new law.

He said: “Labour always argue that once a new minimum wage law comes into effect, it has ripple effects on other categories of workers who are currently earning above the minimum wage because there is the need to maintain vertical relativity of the salary table, particularly for the federal and state government workers.

Therefore, some adjustments on salary tables would need to be effected. “The issue of wage, generally, should be dealt with at the level of individual unions.

Both the NLC and TUC lead the struggle for a fresh minimum wage, but the negotiation of how salaries are adjusted should take place at the level of industrial unions or state councils when dealing with governments. “In situations where the workers are not unionised, the minimum wage is a law that binds all employers.

If there is no union in an establishment, it means there is no collective bargaining in determining wages, which poses some problems in which case, it is the prerogative of the employer to see what adjustments needed to be effected.

“But ideally, labour believes that all establishment should be unionised, so that collective bargaining can take place in determining wage issues. Employers that employ less than 25 people are, however, exempted from the law.

“The new law puts that exemption of employers who employ less than 25 people. This was part of what the tripartite committee recommended, that it should be removed, so that the law applies to everybody, including those that employ domestic workers.”

Corroborating, the President , National Union of Chemical, Footwear, Rubber, leather and Non-Metallic Products Employees (NUCFRLANMPE), Mr Goke Olatunji, said the  private sector might find it difficult to implement the new wage because they are capitalist in nature.

He said workers are expecting total compliance with the new minimum wage law, arguing that inflation in the country and the harsh economic conditions call for faithful implementation of the law.

“The private sector might find it difficult to implement the new wage because they are capitalist in nature.

“Government should, therefore, come up with good policies to improve the economy.” He said union is set to look into this particular area and urged other labour unions in the private sector to device means to ensure that employers in the private sector implement the new wage structure.