While Nigeria degrades workers and the Labour force, nations across Europe continue to strengthen work and employee regulations.
In the European Union, an economic and political union of countries in Europe, employee laws are emphasized on individual working conditions and labour rights, including anti-discriminatory laws and job security.
The Labour unions in Nigeria in their battle for better wages are not even close to EU member states, even with demand and inflation.
According to Statista, the average annual wages ranged from €73,642 in Iceland, down to €24,067 in Greece as of 2022.
Based on statistics in January 2024, Luxembourg has the highest minimum wage set at €2,571 per month.
Although, when adjusted for purchasing power, Germany takes the lead with a minimum wage of €1,883, indicating that with the consideration of local living costs, German workers have a relatively higher purchasing power from their minimum wage earnings.
Furthermore, data from Eurostat shows that the average hourly labour cost in the EU was €30.5 which is almost N50,000 equivalent.
In Europe, there are variations on wages depending on other specific factors;working couples with two children clocked in an average of €55,573 yearly, while singles without kids grossed €26,136.
Going back to 2023, the EU announced the Pay Transparency Directive in June, aimed at bridging the gap between payments and discrimination, also functioning as a guideline for employers.
Notably, the highest paying sectors in Europe are finance, insurance, electricity, mining, information technology, retail and education compared to Nigeria where the highest earning jobs are administrative.
When Nigerian workers lamented about the economic downturn, demanding for higher wages, the government always insists that inflation amongst other factors was the cause of the low salaries, with government officials claiming that higher wages were infeasible.
Meanwhile, the EU nation of Iceland, which is also one of the most expensive countries in the world, with persistently high inflation, drives for higher salaries.
In Luxembourg minimum social wage, in comparison with average wages and price movements are reviewed every two years. This gesture, according to economists, keeps wage standards and living conditions highly updated, thereby reducing uncertainties and inequalities in the labour market.
Additionally, the EU’s Denmark has a unique labour market model, bordering on a balance between flexibility and security. This implies that the Danes do not have a set minimum wage, rather, employees and employers resolve their own salary agreements.
In terms of security, there are less laws regarding dismissals, with litigations challenging these also being quite low.
Employees in Denmark have access to unemployment insurance funds, to which they can contribute while they are employed.
The unemployment insurance funds is a relief system that provides employees with unemployment benefits of up to two years, in case they lose their jobs later on.
However, the EU’s Czech Republic faced a more cultural problem with the majority of employees hesitant in negotiating for higher salaries. This resulted to labour unions being weaker and unable to do much to further employee agendas.
Profoundly, wage-setting can be influenced with the most direct way through integration into national law. For example, in Bulgaria the Labour Code was amended in February 2023 to stipulate that the statutory minimum wage would be set at 50 per cent of the average gross wage on September 1st of each year.
Another way to set wages is by providing trade unions with an additional argument. And just like in Nigeria today, Hungary and Romania trade unions are in pursuit of a higher minimum-wage increase through discussions with the government and employers.
When it comes to working conditions for employees, stakeholders who advocate for adequate minimum wages and its enforcement are always going to be contested. But the reality is that the threshold must be reached eventually.
Significantly, adequate wages and better working conditions must be maintained and implemented at a national level or else the economy of the nation would collapse and citizens would suffer.