Labour wearing one trousers with FG over Minimum,  Living Wage

….Between ‘minimum wage’ and ‘living wage’

By allcitynews.ng

As Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) is wearing one trousers with Federal Government over upward review of National Minimum Wage, the atmosphere has continue to feel the heat.

Minimum wage, according to Cambridge Dictionary, is the smallest amount of money that employers are legally allowed to pay someone who works for them.

On the other hand, living wage ‘is enough money to buy the things that are necessary in order to live comfortably, such as food and clothes’.

Whereas, minimum wage, according to International Labour Organisation (ILO), is the minimum amount of remuneration that an employer is required to pay wage earners for the work performed during a given period, which cannot be reduced by collective agreement or an individual contract.

Following this definition, minimum wages exist in more than 90 per cent of the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) member states.

The purpose of minimum wages, said the Director General of ILO, Gilbert Houngbo, is to protect workers against unduly low pay. It can be noted that minimum wage is just slight lift from poverty level, but may not save or prevent such worker from poverty.

“Minimum wage systems should be defined and designed in a way to supplement and reinforce other social and employment policies, including collective bargaining, which is used to set terms of employment and working conditions”-Houngbo.

Meanwhile, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) is vehemently opposed to state governments who hitherto have not be paying the minimum wage.

NLC helmsman, Comrade Joe Ajaero is worried that most governors, mixing politics with governance, are buying heavy and most expensive jeeps for their lawmakers at the detriment of paying the required wage to workers in their payrolls.

Noting that minimum wage is not enough as it is no longer having impact on average Nigerian worker following the inflation that has converted the salary into peanut money, NLC is pushing for Living Wage.

And just as ILO, while noting that Living Wage is the wage level that is necessary to afford a decent standard of living for workers and their families, and taking into account the country circumstances and calculated for the work performed during the normal hours of work, called on all employers to imbibe the culture of encouraging their workers by payment of living wage.

Reiterating his belief that option of living wages globally would strengthen social justice, Houngbo while addressing the 35th session of the ILO’s Governing Body in Geneva, in its February 2024, outlined the central role of decent wages in economic and social development and the advancement of social justice.

According to Houngbo, the wage is calculated by its principles of estimating the living wage and is to be achieved through the wage-setting process in line with ILO principles on wage setting.

According to Houngbo, “The governing body’s decision to publish the meeting’s conclusions opens the way for new ILO work on the estimation and operationalisation of living wages, technical assistance, awareness-raising and promotional activities related to living wages.”

He declared that the governing body discussed the progress of the Global Coalition for Social Justice, to foster multilateral cooperation and generate political commitment, social investments and concrete actions that support social justice and decent work.

And notably in the country today minimum wage is a topical burning issue.

Labour has continued to put pressure on governments, especially the federal, for increment in the face of the inflammable inflation the country is experiencing.

It is so, because it is becoming so tough for many to have decent living even to the extent to buy a bag of rice which has jumped to N75,000 and N85, 000. By this, a salary earner at N30,000 or N75,000 per month will have to save to enable him buy one bag of rice minus the accomplishments.

But before going into the arguments proper, it would be nice to try to know and understand the two words, minimum wage and living wage in order to enlighten some schools of thoughts and also remind some who perhaps have doubt on them.

These words have continue to ring bell in the minds of average Nigerians.

They are ‘minimum wage’ and ‘living wage’. While government has been talking more of a minimum wage of recent, labour seems to be shifting emphasis to a living wage.

What is then the difference between them?

To begin with, wage is defined as a fixed regular payment earned for work or services typically paid on a daily or weekly or monthly basis.

Minimum wage, according to Cambridge Dictionary, is the smallest amount of money that employers are legally allowed to pay someone who works for them. On the other hand, living wage ‘is enough money to buy the things that are necessary in order to live, such as food and clothes’.

Based on this definition, it will be a hard task to cut out an agreement on what a living wage is.

When Labour Unions are clamouring, hammering and protesting for Living Wage, their focus is not mere payment of salary but they are fighting for the all-round wellbeing for average Nigerian workers.

While government is pushing for minimum wage, NLC is fighting for Living Wage.

With minimum wage, a worker may have to save two or three months salary in order to buy basic needs like a bag of rice, garri or other foodstuff for the household.

Whereas, when Labour leaders are on call for Living Wage, they want Nigerian workers to get something that can help take care of the rising cost of living to some extent.

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