We have been talking extensively about Marx's ideas about wage and wage labor, as well as the minimum wage and cost of living. We have reached an understanding that, according to Marx, the wage is determined by the cost of living and for reproduction. Having said this, I came across an article on the Voice of America news website from January 18, 2009. The title of this article is "Nigerian Labor Unions Seek Minimum Wage Increase", written by Abuja.
The article speaks about how the two labor unions in Nigeria were attempting to increase the minimum wage from 5,500 naira, or $40, to $350. It speaks about how at the current minimum wage in Nigeria, which is $40 and has not been changed or reviewed for the past 8 years, is not enough to even fulfill their "basic necessities of life" (Abuja). This aspect relates to the Marx reading "Wage Labour and Capital" because here we see that with the minimum wage, Nigerians are not even being paid what is needed for their cost of living, which I think in turn would not facilitate their ability to reproduce if they are not able to secure their own basic needs to continue living, nontheless another person's.
The article also goes on to mention that "thousands of Nigerians have already lost their jobs in recent months, and government officials warn there could be further layoffs across all sectors if unions ask employers for more money" (Abuja). This quote, in my opinion, strengthens the idea that Marx argues in the reading about the creation of competition amongst the workers. I think that given this quote, we can infer that these layoffs will create more competition among these workers, as we spoke about in class, and will cause the employers to attempt to pay them less since there will be more people willing to depreciate their labor to simply get some sort of income. This is an interesting issue though because, in my opinion, in the unions trying to get a higher pay for the workers, they can also give rise to the amount of unemployment increasing, as well as competition, just as Marx mentions.
So, we know that as Marx mentions, the minimum wage is determined by the cost of living and reproduction, which, according to this article , is not being met with the minimum wage because they can not even secure their own basic neccessities with this amount in Nigeria because of the inflation going on and the "devaluation of the local currency" (Abuja). To finalize, I feel that Marx would be upset at the fact that the minimum wage does not cover even their cost of living, but also the labor union aspect of it, because as we mentioned in class, he would be a supporter of Co-op environment as opposed to the corporation, because yes you are negotiating your terms of work through your union, but even if you are getting paid more, as Marx would say and as we mentioned in class, you are still a slave just a better paid one.
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I completely agree. Many people continue the struggle between the minimum and living wage with little to no relief. I further agree that something more than a rise in wages in necessary to resolve this issue. A solid foundation needs to be set where people can not only begin to live comfortably, but continue to keep living well.
ReplyDeleteIn struggling economies it is often difficult to find the best solution. Increasing wages would most likely only lead to increases for costs for employees else where whether it be taxes or increases in product cost. Thus, a serious plan needs to be put into action that can hopefully change things for these people so they may live better.
I agree with Lyndsey, an increase in wages also leads to an increase in products. sometimes it is difficult to understand minority countries such as nigeria unless we experience their life ourselves. Many of these people dont even spend $10 a day for the whole family. Yes they may not get paid what they are supposed to but I guess that is because the government doesnt do anything about it.
ReplyDeleteI believe if they got paid what they were supposed to there would not be as many diseases, in particular in the poor areas of these countries. This would minimize the deaths of poor children who need to survive in order to reproduce.
As Jacqueline mentions Marx would be upset and would not agree with what the minimum wage is in Nigeria.
The competetion of workers to survive is precisely what Marx voices his opinion against. When your main goal in life is to work to survive, are you really even living? When your wages don't cover the minimum cost to sustain life how are you supposed to live well outside of work at all. Because it is simply cheaper to hire a new worker everytime another dies, is laid off, or is injured, companies will not see the point in raising wages. The capitalist sees the world in revenues and expenses. In order to keep more money in the owner's pocket he must take from another's. Marx talks about this in the readings we had for class. We are slaves to our empoyers because they control us. They control our population by controling how much we are able to provide for our families.
ReplyDeleteWe are just slaves to our occupation