As I was saying…From experiences of the aftermath of every struggle, the gains turn out to be illusions. The worker comes out worse in the end and, indeed, the general populace who have to grapple with fresh and enervating inflationary currents. The Scarghilian tool of yesterday does not necessarily fit today into the compass to chart the way to the land of joy and happiness in present-day living. What do I mean? I will come to it presently. Through strikes in the quest for higher wages, minimum wages, justice, fairness and what have you on the shop floor, the worker gets the short end of the stick.

Six years ago, on a similar occasion as this, I did state, paying fulsome homage to our Labour leaders of old, their successors and some in contemporary times as follows: “We must give it to the labour of our heroes past, that workers have been rescued out of the Ricardian world and given recognition and dignity. What would have been the state of affairs for workers but for the heroic struggle and doggedness of legendary Michael Imoudu in the Nigerian Railways; HP Adebola; Wahab Goodluck; Dr. Tunji Otegbeye; Hassan Sunmonu; Ali Ciroma; Kokori and my friend, Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole and several others in the vanguard? Step forward and be counted in the Hall of Fame, articulate Ayuba Wabba. What would have been the state of our universities today, unflattering as it even is, but for the sacrifices of ASUU and its predecessor prohibited by the military government decades ago?  It is in this context that the vigilance of Ayuba Wabba and later that of his successor, Joe Ajaero, with his comrade in arms, Festus Osifo of TUC can be appreciated. It is in this context that the struggle by the university teachers as of today being paid $300 can be seen and the commitment and sacrifices of Professor Biodun Ogunyemi and his successor, Professor Victor Emmanuel Osodeke, and their colleagues applauded. The take-home pay of a professor is too scandalous to even be whispered to Wole Falodun of Lagos Weekend fame and say to him: “Do not say I told you!”  There was a time university lecturers were almost not able to fuel their cars. At a time, they were accused of teaching what they were not paid to teach. Today in the same environment, as I pointed out last week, political leaders are living in obscene opulence, the executives at practically no costs to them. The Nigerian Senators are the highest paid in the world. Thanks to Professor Itse Sagay and former President Olusegun Obasanjo. How that is sustainable remains to be seen. 

In the world of classical economist, David Ricardo (1772-1823), the worker is paid only what he needs to sustain him to work the following day. Nothing is left to meet personal responsibilities and leisure. The concern of the employer is work and more work. To strike a balance between what the worker offered and what employer paid, trade unionism arose to strengthen the bargaining power of the rank and file. It was reckoned, and still is, that the weak and the vulnerable would thereby be protected. Fairness would be extracted from an unfeeling employer from whose veins the milk of human kindness may have dried up. However, from experiences of the aftermath of every struggle, there are casualties through clever depletion engineering in human capital; the gains turn out to be illusions. The worker comes out worse. And he is made to again go in search of elusive victories by declaring yet another round of strike. Sometimes, the job disappears from his hand because to pay the new wage level and continue in business, the employer prunes down the workforce and raises the price of his product which ironically the worker himself needs. What then is to be done in view of the fact that the inner worth of an average employer changes at no faster a rate than changes in the earth crust? The employer is not going to yield without pressure. Yet the worker is in need of protection for fair wages. In the free world, strike is a weapon workers guard jealously, so is the principle of collective bargaining. 

As there is no standstill in life because it is being driven by motion, every action will necessarily call for a deep reflection on the experiences of each day. Are there no other ways, for example, to strike a balance in the relationship between the employer and the worker? How are things to continue in these times, in the new Age which has opened before us, which anyone who is attentive can perceive? Is a practice necessarily right because it has gone on for decades or centuries? The two tiers of government facing the heat from Labour and the organized private sector, excluding small-scale enterprises say they can pay only N62, 000 as the National Minimum Wage. That is what they say they are comfortable with, a little movement up, and away from the previously announced N60, 000. The position of some of the governors, especially those less endowed is that for them to go beyond this mark they would have to spend all their revenue in paying only salaries and other areas of service delivery would suffer. Labour is assuming that all the states regardless of their current resources, both from the Federal allocation and the internally-generated revenue (IGR), are in a position to pay. After all, the current N30, 000 minimum applies throughout the country. Besides, all governors and commissioners are paid the same wages themselves. Workers also pay the same price for premium motor spirit (PMS) even though energy cost is cushioned through equalization Fund which makes it possible for a motorist in Akwa Ibom or Bayelsa to buy fuel at the same price as the motorist in Zamfara or Yobe State. All these negate the principle of federalism, thus strengthening the agitation for restructuring from which Labour has been aloof. The phrase Collective bargaining itself connotes centralization! But never mind!

In the developed world, especially in Western Europe, unionism is real and has become an acceptable power, confirming and safeguarding the right of any worker to withdraw his service if he considers a working condition unfavourable. Because of its universality, the conception and underlying assumptions of collective bargaining are no longer subjected to scrutiny. Because it has been accepted as a veritable power in the Western World, developing countries have enthusiastically embraced it. One of the weaknesses of collective bargaining is that negotiations are not freely done but under duress which exerts pressure of fear of strikes which in turn comes with inhibiting factors. Most times labour cost is not matched with the same level of performance with resultant rise in productivity. Yet, the answer to inflation is abundance of goods which is derived from increased production either by machine or human labour. As a Uganda proverb says, “To defeat hunger you have to farm, not beg.”

Strike has far reaching consequences, well-intentioned as it may be. Consider for example, in the strike of last week, the national grid was shut down and those manning it were driven out of situation room to make the strike bite hard. When the nation is plunged into darkness, everybody is touched. This was without consideration for those on life support in hospitals, those on dialysis, operation tables in theatres. Fortunately, doctors did not participate in the strike. If they had joined, there would have been premature discharge of patients with grave consequences of deaths, prolonged agonies, hopes postponed or shattered. Strikes damage and worsen national economic situation. The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) secretary, Mr. Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, said this much while appealing to Labour to shelve last week’s strike. He said: “it could reverse the recent marginal gains in the economy. It could incapacitate the private sector and would impoverish Nigerians …It is our strong view that any amount beyond what the OPSN offered could further escalate the already worsened health of many businesses, especially the Small and Medium Enterprises, and drive others to the precipice.”

Who can easily forget the sparks of strikes in Britain in the 70s, in the era of Scarghill? In 1978, British unions drove away affable Prime Minister James Callaghan, lovingly called Sunny Jim, from office after he plunged the country into what the British Press called a winter of discontent! He handled trade disputes with kid-gloves. Margret Thatcher, the no-nonsense Iron Lady, not wanting to go the way of Mr. Callaghan, was determined to tame the unions. She faced Mr. Scarghill, the union strongman, head-on. The encounter lasted one year. About the same time, The Times of London, fondly called the Thunderer that prides herself the Voice of Britain,  was shut down for nearly one year.  The highly revered Old Lady was closed by printers protesting the introduction of new technology in the press, between 01 December, 1978 and 12 November 1979. The printers calmed down only after the owner, Lord Thompson of Fleet, threatened to close the institution down permanently or sell it. The former option did not go down well with the British general public, particularly the Establishment because the newspaper speaks for Britain. After a while upon resumption of operations, the newspaper was eventually sold to Mr. Rupert Murduch, and many of the printers lost their jobs. Thompson was later to announce that he lost $30million from the lockdown.    

Strikes can keep investors away and deny the worker more jobs and better offers, delimit the production of more goods and offer respite from rising prices. Union leaders, however, do not see issues of strikes this way. Yet, trade unionism and the concommittant collective bargaining, attractive as they may appear as a weapon to safeguard the interest of employees, indeed give false hopes and worsen their plight. In the private sector, workers are misled into believing that all profit is loot. With collective bargaining individuals are robbed of their own ability to press for their needs and entitlements. Collectivism ignores the point that there can be no equalization in the affairs of men for as long as they have free will and exercise it as each person pleases. In some cases employers sometimes unconsciously sense the necessity for individual bargaining strength and therefore at the point of entry, emoluments are negotiated with each employee.

Collective bargaining also sets out from the assumption that there is injustice that must be redressed, and in the process bring about a relative uniform level of living standards. This ignores the fact that men cannot have equal opportunities, but rather only equal offer of opportunities. This is simply on account of free will, the exercise of which determines each person’s fate and his placement in life, now or in the future, when the fruits of his activities freely embarked upon ripen for harvesting. Collective bargaining also ignores the fact that workers cannot produce the same amount of work. If there is inequality in productivity, it should follow that there will be inequality in reward. Even where there is relative equal amount of productivity, how much joy each puts into bringing it about counts before the Laws of Life. Work carried out grudgingly counts for far less, if at all, before the Law. There will be greater incentive for the one who works harder and joyfully. In other words, it is important to note that what Labour is pressing for is minimum wage, it is not asking for minimum productivity. That is beyond its control. 

In the present action we have on our hands in the country, it is not only the government that is being pressurized to raise the minimum wage, it extends to the private sector as well which has been battered since the currency change fiasco and the precipitous withdrawal of fuel subsidy, desirable as the action was. And it is to the sector the Central government is likely to turn through increase in company tax and the state governments for worker’s payee and sundry levies. Apart from fuelling inflation, agitation for pay rise on a collective basis also discountenances the risks entrepreneurship entails and when the investor /employer loses, his loss is not shared by his employees. It is little realised that an employer deserves praise for providing opportunities for workers to unfold their talents and abilities and to meet their material needs so they can be free for the pursuit of higher values—the real purport of life. It is hardly appreciated that the industrialist has to make provision for equipment and assets replacement and for his own family and needs and that when profit is made it is only a fraction of it that goes to the investor. The remainder is ploughed back into the business for expansion or recycled into the economy either through direct investment or through banks where it is available to go out as loans to revitalize the economy still. 

I have gone this far to show that on both sides there is need for recognition of the consequences of imbalance in our lives, worker or the employer and that we cannot be too careful. After all said and done, it will be discovered that the pursuit of unions and how they go about it, as well as the attitude of the employer must be subjected to immutable principles of life that only what is right serves aright. And this can only be decided by how they align with the principles and mechanisms that govern life. Workers need not worry: an employer, whether in the public service or the private sector, who maltreats his employees mercifully put under his care, sets his own snares and his dominion, in accordance with the Laws of Creation, cannot endure—in the present or in another earth life. The dominion must in the end collapse even where it shows all the promises of flourish at the peak of business. Similarly, a worker who receives pay for work not done will have brought imbalance about in his own life. He may inexplicably be exited, or the imbalance results in poor pay that fall below inflation. The employer may also look frantically for new technology to reduce the establishment in human labour in particular.

In most parts of the developed world, pay rise is worked into the calculation of the possible rate of inflation. In this way, whatever increment a worker may receive will not be waylaid by the departmental or grocery stores. There is no noise-making. Similarly, some organizations do yearly but quiet productivity assessment of their staff. In some there are aptitude tests. Greater attention should be paid to farming. The incalculable value chains in agriculture are what can revitalize any economy and engender abundance of primary products and processed goods rolling out of factories. It is the two-pronged approach that can successfully tame inflation. But the policies of many a government encourage what erstwhile Governor Lateef Jakande (LKJ) once described as army of consultants and renter economy who produce nothing, but rake in billions of Naira and Dollars—what he said was a wide deviation from the all-embracing vision of Chief Obafemi Awolowo!  

Creation is one whole and as I have stated repeatedly in these pages, it is governed by immutable and incorruptible Higher Order. There are several planes of existence apart from our earth. We should learn from activities going on there so that the entire Creation can swing in harmonious whole. Our earth is the last outpost of Creation which the Lord Christ called His Father’s House, and the planes, Mansions. Although there are regions below the earth, they were never intended by the Creator nor did He bring them into existence. They are nether regions, more commonly known as the Dark Region with its characteristic hellish conditions, hence it is called Hell. The nether regions were created and are being expanded by human beings through unworthy activities, thoughts and speeches. Above from the summit of the material world, planes beyond the perceptive capacity of our senses, beautiful Regions of Light exist stretching into Paradise. Paradise is protected by what is called the Animistic Belt—the home and origin of animistic beings  such as elves, gnomes and nixies that the ancient people called gods and goddesses, the awareness of their existence closed to the modern man; only children still behold them. The Animistic Belt is also the home and origin of the souls of animals we are familiar with on earth.

In higher realms, all swing in love and harmony—everyone serving his fellowmen, his neighbour jubilantly, seeing only to what is of benefit to him and which gives him joy. Our world is supposed to be a replica of such beautiful worlds and that is our principal task as human beings on earth, that is to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. And so do we long and pray,”Let Thine Kingdom Come. Thy Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” Disruptions to national life, to corporate lives must necessarily be deviations from the pursuit of that loftier goal and from the fulfillment of the vow we human beings make that we will establish the Kingdom of the Creator on earth. Disruptions bring harm to our fellowmen. We thereby prove that we are untrue and unfaithful to our vows; we deceive not our Creator, but ourselves. It is as serious as that.

How would it be if the Nature Beings whose activities through the mixing of molecules of hydrogen and oxygen and infusing them with their own radiations to produce clouds and water were to go on strike? Will there be rains? How would it be if Nature Beings that prepare the air we breathe and make it pure all-year round were to go on strike? How would it be if rains were withheld and there are no crops on the field and plants that provide herbs to heal our ailing bodies? How would it be if Nature Beings which prepare bodies for babies in expectant mothers’ wombs were to go on strike? How would it be if Nature Beings were to refuse to build mountains, and provide and nurture flowers to behold, flowers that blow our minds and bow our spirits with their beauty and fragrances, the enthralling wondrous fields of Nature? What would it be if the Creator were to withdraw His Grace and Blessings which keep us alive and from which we draw our sustenance and prosperity? Every year the Holy Spirit, the Creative Spirit of God, renews His Love for the entire Creation when He pours out Power, energizing the entire Creation. Grasses sprout, plants come out with blossoming fresh leaves and flowers bloom. Birds sing merrily. Plants bow. Men receive strength. 

We should be well-advised to familiarize ourselves with the immutable and unchanging principles of life so that we do not come to harm. Old knowledge can no longer suffice for the world of today. This day and age requires knowledge that is new, that is revealed. With it we will see many notions, many time-honoured conceptions for ages regarded as right and unassailable crumbling before our eyes. They are after all wrong and mortally harmful.