By Olumuyiwa Wahab Jimoh
Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State
It is generally agreed that a worker is truly deserving of his wage. This is functioned on the singular fact that it is the worker’s efforts and contributions in the production process that creates the wealth which the socio-economy depends on for survival. A worker’s wage is therefore not charity but truly just a fraction of his total creation and contributions to the Gross National Product (GNP). It is his share of his contribution to the bottom-line of any organisation; be it public or private which is often infinitesimal compared to the quantum of his total contribution to the national effort.
When it is realised that workers depend on their salaries for sustenance and for taking care of their extended families and discharging their obligations to the larger society, one begins to understand the crisis which the withholding of these from the worker portends not only directly for the worker and his immediate dependants, but for the society at large. A worker’s salary is his lifeline. As a lifeline, it ought not to be treated with carelessness or any form of irresponsibility as that would amount to either suspending the lives of some people or actually destroying them outright.
I hold the opinion that when a worker is denied his salary, he becomes stripped of his humanity as he becomes castrated of the capacity to discharge his social obligations and carry out responsible and dignified activities within the society. This is traumatic and humans ought not to be allowed to go through this experience in a modern society, especially in a democracy.
We hold therefore that any organisation or employer for that matter, which includes various governments at different levels, that intentionally withholds salaries from her workers stands condemnable for subjecting fellow human beings to …Read More
Source:: PM Newspaper
