Akpan Ekpo
The labour force whether skilled or unskilled constitute the major factor of production in any economy. The various gadgets which are technologically driven are either invented and/or run by humans; you may call it robots, artificial intelligence etc. Labour plays a crucial role in the innovation of these gadgets. The reward to labour, in terms of wages, salaries and other allowances depend on the interplay of variables existing in an economic system. The entrepreneurs, that is, those that have invested must make profit in order to reproduce the activity and remain in operation.
Consequently, the private sector/entrepreneur pays the worker enough for him/her to be able to live and lubricate the production process. Sometimes, the pay may be below subsistence levels. It is for this reason that modern capitalism with the existence of labour unions strive to pay a minimum wage to workers. The International Labour Organization (ILO) exists to protect the rights of workers and the Nigerian government is a signatory to resolutions emanating from the ILO.
In underdeveloped economies like Nigeria, the payment of minimum wage is often a struggle. For example, some states are still unable to pay the current minimum wage of N30,000 a month.
In modern capitalism, a worker is paid at least the value of its marginal product of labour implying that the worker receives a reward to enable him to pay his way to work daily while the owner sells the product created by the worker with the view of maximizing profit after subtracting the usual costs.
Broadly, there are two types of workers in the large firms. The management team and others. More often, the management cadre are properly enumerated including all sorts of allowances. For example, in Nigeria, Bank CEOs and executives are exorbitantly paid that on retirement, they have enough funds to start a bank. Evidence abound in the country. The CEOs and executives of oil companies, GSM companies, selected public agencies and the like fall into this category of well-paid workers. I call them the “bribed” segment of the working class.
They do not own the companies but are so well compensated that their lifestyle mirrors or even surpasses that of their counterparts in developed economies. No matter the compensation, they are paid less than the surplus value generated by them. They enjoy constant power supply due to availability of generators; their children school abroad; they go abroad for medicals, etc. They constitute part of the elite which have captured the state – they are often very close to those with political power. They are at not up to 10 per cent of the Nigerian population but their lifestyle is often nauseating.
Let me focus on the plight of workers in the banking, GSM and oil companies in Nigeria. First, the differential between the wages of skilled workers (graduate) and the management (CEOs, Executives) is too wide for any comfort. The economy has experienced two recessions within four years. All macroeconomic fundamentals in the last 10 years have been moving in the wrong direction, yet Banks, GSM companies, etc are registering substantial after-tax profits yet the lower level workers are poorly paid. There is no correlation between the real sector and the profit profiles of these banks and finance outfits except financing LPOs, trading in financial peers, charges/fees, among others.
Another category of workers is those on contract. Staff in these companies have been on contract for 10 – 11 years without confirmation. They are not entitled to essential benefits. Even when they are sacked, let go/retrenched and/or resigned after several years, they have nothing to fall back on. If a worker is not performing satisfactorily during probation, then he/she should be informed. They have no security of jobs and are thus prone to all sorts of temptation.
The government should look seriously into the matter of contract staff in companies making huge profits over the years. What the companies are doing is exploitation in its wildest form. The Nigerian Labour Congress should go beyond picketing these companies and insist on the confirmation of such staff and/or ensure that they enjoy appropriate benefits – this affects both junior and senior staff.
The manner these companies particularly those owned by Indians and Chinese treat Nigerian workers is disturbing and embarrassing. Recently, the Rwanda government had to deport Chinese businessmen for maltreating Rwandan workers. A responsible government must protect the welfare of its workforce.
The exploitation of workers remains a major problem, for capitalist development no matter its phase but it quite visible during the primitive accumulation phase. The worker is perceived as a commodity to be bought and sold. Labour unions have struggled over the years in most countries including Nigeria to reduce the degree of exploitation. Nevertheless, “the capitalist will sell you even the rope with which he will hang you with.” These companies set a target for profit and as soon as the owners and the ‘bribed’ segment of the working class observe a declining trend in profit (not losses), contract workers are the first to be laid-off, followed by others.
It seems that the government is not interested in protecting contract or other exploited staff for obvious reasons. Therefore, we must continue to mobilise and organise workers to take-over political power and protect their interests.
Ekpo is the founder of the Foundation For Economic Research and Training (FERT)
