Today is May Day! It is so easy not to remember under the prevailing Coronavirus pandemic lockdown atmosphere.
Where would the world be without the working class? They are found in the formal and informal, public and private sectors. They are the ones who create and sustain wealth. They are currently the main force against COVID-19. They literally make the world go round.
So, no matter the circumstances that face the world, this special day set aside to celebrate the workers with a public holiday has to be honoured.
The usual parades and speeches at public arenas will not be observed. But that will not reduce the need to pay quality attention to the current issues confronting the working class not only in Nigeria but other parts of the world.
The main concern is how to protect jobs in a world under various degrees of lockdown and protect the workplace from contamination. That was what informed the theme: “Stop the Pandemic at Work”, during the 2020 International Workers’ Memorial Day marked on Tuesday, April 28.
This year’s May Day is coming amid rising tensions between the state governments and the Organised Labour over the reported intentions of governors to slash workers’ pay to free up funds to fight pandemic.
Several state governors, notably Nasir el Rufai of Kaduna and John Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti, have slashed the salaries of political appointees, including theirs.
Labour is, predictably, resisting the attempt to tamper with their members’ pay. And rightly so. In the first place, the government has no right to cut the wages of workers unilaterally. They must consent to it if need be.
Arbitrary workers’ pay cut was sometimes the practice when the military was in power. That era is gone. We are in a democracy and must put aside impunity in all its forms.
Responsible governments in other parts of the world are taking some of the financial burden off their citizens and workforce.
In the USA, the Federal Government sent pay cheques to citizens at the lower end of the social pyramid. UK government is paying up to 80 per cent of wages of some classes of workers.
Hong Kong is raising the salaries of workers, while Singapore is implementing pay cut for political office holders and senior bureaucrats.
Nigeria already pays some of the lowest workers’ wages, including minimum wages, in the world.
The least we expect is that governments take steps to pay the workers when due.
They should help the private sector bear the burden of forced closure or scale-down of productivity. We all need money to maintain the lockdown rules.
It is the overpaid political officeholders that should temporarily give up some comforts till things return to normal.
Happy Workers Day!
