Maravi

Minimum wage

Minimum wage
By The Post
Wed 10 Mar. 2010, 04:00 CAT

IT is a strict duty of justice and truth not to allow fundamental needs to remain unsatisfied. There are many workers in our country who each day cannot meet the basic needs for a descent human life.

And what they are asking for is not a lot of money. It is really simply a question of "give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food that is needful for me" (Proverbs 30:8).

Living conditions must be improved especially for the low-income earners. There is a great danger that government policies, if not combined with clear social concern, will bring social economic deprivation.

There is therefore need for all to join the call by Civil Society for Poverty Reduction for the regular revision of the minimum wage to ensure that the welfare of people is uplifted.

It doesn't make sense to have a minimum wage of K268,000 in a country where the basic needs basket for a family of six in the capital city, Lusaka, stands at K2, 696,030.

And this basket includes food items such as mealie-meal, beans, Kapenta, dry fish, meat (mixed cut), eggs, vegetables, onions, tomatoes, milk, cooking oil, sugar, salt and tea leaves. And to this is added non-food items which include charcoal, soap (Lifebuoy), wash soap (Boom), jelly (Vaseline), electricity, basic water and sanitation and housing.

Economic justice requires that each individual has adequate resources to survive, to develop and thrive, and to give back in service to the community.

All workers have the right to receive a just wage so that by the sweat of their faces they should be able to feed themselves (Gn. 3:19).

Workers have a strict duty to give their employers efficient and conscientious work for which they have a right to a just wage, salary.

The dignity of work must be recognised with just wages and safe conditions. Employers should give workers an honest wage and then ask them for more substantial support.

All forms of employment that place profit before workers and are based on their exploitation must be condemned.

The value of any business activity should be measured not only by how well it will improve the economy but also how responsive it will be to the needs of the poor.

Business activity should therefore be treated as a means to an end and not an end to itself.

The ever-rising cost of living in our country, especially in Lusaka, presents an extremely serious challenge upon which all efforts must be concentrated.

The basic needs basket has continued to show an increase in the cost of basic food and essential non-food items.

And whether people can access their basic needs or not has serious implications on individual and family well-being and consequently, the future development of the country.

We should therefore realise that people's work concerns not only the economy but also, and especially, personal values.

Work and the remuneration it generates are rooted in respect for human dignity.

Therefore, every effort should be made that the enterprise becomes the community of persons. If our country is to move forward, a culture which recognises the dignity of the worker and emphasises the subjective dimension of work is needed.

The value of any human work does not depend on the kind of work done; it is based on the fact that the one who does it is a person and needs to be remunerated in a manner that enables him to live a dignified life.

Remuneration for work should guarantee workers a dignified livelihood for themselves and their families. And the government should regulate industries and commerce to protect workers' rights and curb their exploitation.

Measures which will enable workers to improve their conditions should be valued and promoted by everyone in society.

The rights of workers, like all rights, are based on the nature of the human person and on his and her rights transcendent dignity. And among these rights is the right to a just wage.

The roles of business owners and management have a central importance from the viewpoint of society because they are at the heart of that network of technical, commercial, financial and cultural bonds that characterise the modern business reality.

For this reason the exercise of responsibility by business owners and management requires constant reflection on the moral motivations that should guide the personal choices of those to whom these tasks fall.

The motive of business should be not only to make profit but even more to contribute to the common good of society through, among other things, just wages.

The sense of responsibility in economic initiative should demonstrate the individual and social virtues necessary for development.

Thus every worker has a right to a just wage, and this right must be recognised in a practical way by an effective commitment to regularly revising the minimum wage. There we have an ethical criterion whose implications cannot be overlooked.

The fact that wages below the basic needs basket keep large sectors in poverty and do not enable them to meet the basic needs is intolerable.

For this reason the regular revision of the minimum wage must be a primary social task facing individual and private enterprises as well as the state.

The priority of work over capital places an obligation in justice upon employers to consider the welfare of workers before the increase in profits.

The experiences lived by our people lead us to reject an economic system that favours profit and the exploitation of workers. We should therefore aim toward recreation of a qualitative different system.

And by this we mean a system wherein the willingness of justice, of solidarity and equality reigns, one that will respond to generous aspirations and the search for a more just society and where values which will guarantee the integral development of humankind will be realised.

It does not make sense to expect a worker who earns K268,000 but needs about K2.7 million per month to meet the basic needs to be honest and hardworking. It is this gap that leads to pilfering and low productivity.

It is also these low wages that lead to high levels of crime in the country. There is therefore need for businesses, the labour unions and government to pay a lot of attention to the issue of minimum wage and ensure that workers are paid wages that enable them and their families to live honest and dignified lives.

Labels: CSPR, MINIMUM WAGE

posted by MrK @ 6:27 AM