Nigerian labor leaders are calling for a three-day general strike next week to protest failures to pay a new, national minimum wage.
尼日利亚劳工领袖呼吁在下星期进行为期三天的大罢工，以抗议政府没有做到支付新的全国最低工资。
Negotiations on a new minimum wage for Nigerians began more than two years ago with labor unions proposing as much as $340 a month. Lawmakers eventually settled on about $118 a month, or 18,000 Naira.
有关新的尼日利亚人最低工资谈判两年多前就开始了。工会提出的标准多达每个月340美元。议会最终核定为每月118美元，也就是1万8千奈拉。
But nearly three months after that bill became law, few of the lowest paid workers in the public and private sectors are earning that wage.
但是在议案成为法律后过了将近3个月，只有很少数拿最低工资的政府和私人机构员工赚到这样的工资。
"Those ones who are on the high side they are making it, but the masses are not making it," said Anne Elijah who works in a stationery shop in the Ikoyi neighborhood of Lagos. "There are so many people out there who are suffering. We still need the intervention of the government to make things perfect for us."
安.以利亚在拉各斯的伊科伊住宅区一家文具店工作。她说：“有较好工作的人能拿到最低工资，但是大部分人都拿不到。很多人日子非常难过。我们还是需要政府介入，来为我们谋求福利。”
Elijah says many parents can no longer afford school fees, but are afraid to ask for more money because employers have an ample pool of job seekers from which to replace them.
以利亚说，很多家长付不出孩子的学费，但是他们不敢要求得到更多报酬，因为雇主拥有很多的求职者可以取代他们。
"Year in, year out we still collect the same salary and things are not OK," added Elijah. "But they just leave it they way you collect [your salary] then you can't shout. If you say it, they will not answer you. They believe that if you don't want to work you can go. People are out there looking for jobs."
她说：“年复一年，我们拿同样的薪水，这种状况是不行的。但是雇主的态度照样是“你拿你的薪水，然后就别出声”。如果你说了，他们是不会回答你的。他们认为，如果你不想作，你可以不干。找工作的人有的是。
At the St. Peter Claver Catholic Church, Father Paul Anyansi says much of his congregation is just getting by.
在圣彼得克拉弗天主教会，保罗阿延西神父说，很多教友的收入只能勉强度日。
"It's very, very important that we have a minimum wage that can cater for the basic needs of people in this country where there is a lot of inflation," added Anyansi. "Things like kerosene, basic things are getting out of hand. Rents are getting out of hand."
他说：“保障最低工资是非常重要的，这样尼日利亚人民就能应付基本的需要，尼日利亚有严重的通货膨胀。 像煤油这种基本的东西价格失控，房租贵的没道理。”
So labor leaders are calling a three-day general strike next week to force private sector employers as well as federal, state, and local governments to pay the legal minimum wage.
因此，劳工领导人呼吁下星期举行一连3天的大罢工，以强迫私人企业雇主，中央和地方政府支付法律规定的最低工资。
"I know Nigeria is not even among the poorest countries," said Ahmed Mai Sakala, chairman of the Nigerian Labor Congress for Gombe State. "But what we are in need of is committed leaders who will oversee the affairs of people in this country. And that is why we are in this case."
贡贝州的尼日利亚劳工大会主席艾哈迈德.麦萨卡拉说：“我知道尼日利亚根本不算最贫穷的国家，但是我们需要的是有心的领导人来监管尼日利亚人的事务。这就是我们举行大罢工的原因。”
Lawmakers trying to avert the strike are calling for labor leaders to be patient. Sakala says all levels of government have had months to prepare for higher wage bills.
试图避免发生罢工的议员呼吁劳工领导人要有耐心。麦萨卡拉说， 各级政府有好几个月的时间为较高工资议案作准备。
"The president of this country has signed it into law and yet even the federal government could not implement," added Sakala. "It is very unfortunate. The labor will stand and make everybody to follow the law of this land."
他说：“总统已经签署使之成为法律，但就连联邦 政府都无法实施这项法律。这实在很不幸。劳工们将挺身而出，让人人遵守这个国家法律。”
Some governors say they are already spending too much on petrol subsidies to pay a higher minimum wage.
"The governors who are saying that unless fuel is deregulated before they can pay they are only saying nonsense," said Akeem Kazeem, chairman of the Lagos State Council of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria. "Because of the fact that this is the law. So anything short from 18,000 [Naira] minimum wage, it will not be taken."
Kazeem says the strike is meant to force private sector employers to comply with the law as well.
"Eighteen-thousand is minute from what is expected," Kazeem added. "And if they fail to implement, we will not hesitate to go on strike. The idea of private sector employing casual labor with 5,000 Naira is out of the way."
Even if the strike is successful, there are many Nigerians who will not earn the higher wage. Economists estimate that as much as 80 percent of people here in Lagos work in the informal economy. Registered businesses with fewer than 50 employees are exempt from the minimum wage requirement.
就算罢工活动很成功，很多尼日利亚人还是拿不到较高的工资。经济学家估计，拉各斯有多达80%的人在非正规经济中工作。雇员不到50名的注册企业不受最低工资法的限制。 |