At a time when prices of groceries are skyrocketing, most of the time arbitrarily, labourers at Singer, the biggest grocery market in Northern Nigeria, are not reaping the benefit of the price increase.
When prices of commodities like sugar, rice and flour almost tripled in less than two years at Singer market, labourers, whose job is to unload the supplied goods from truck to store, live on slave wage as they have witnessed insignificant increase in their wages to as low as N3 and as high as N8 in almost three decades.
Investigation by BizPoint revealed that most of the manual workers, though married, are at the low ebb of the financial system, as their existence depends largely on “from hands to mouth” economy.
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Our checks also revealed that the unskilled workers earn as high as N30 to unload a 50kg bag of rice, sugar or flour from a truck of 600 bags to a store within the market, a hard labour that hardly fetch them N2,000 a day.
Our checks also revealed that the labourers are paid from N3 up to N8, to unload a carton of sweet, biscuit, soap or spaghetti from a truck to a store, sometimes located upstairs in the market, as some even pay as low as N5 per two cartons.
At the market, BizPoint understands that a team of 10 to 12 labourers would be assigned to a truck to unload all the goods at certain amount of money.
For instance, when our reporter visited the market, he met some of the unskilled workers, manually unloading cartons of what is believed to be a sweet from a truck to an unspecified store.
When our reporter asked one of them, he said they are a team of 10 labourers unloading 5,200 cartons of sweet at N35,000, or at N8 per carton, adding that even as that, they had to negotiate to agree on the amount.
“We hardly finish this truck in a day, unless if we will come out early in the morning and leave late in the night, that is when we will earn N3,500 each. We could also be paid at N8 per carton.
“Those paying N8 per carton are very rare in this market. We are paid N3 per carton. Let me tell you that some of the dealers would pay us N5 per two cartons ,” a 55-year old labourer, who preferred to be anonymous, told our reporter.
The labourer said he would have to work for more than 15 hours a day to earn N3,500 to fend for his two wives and more than 12 children.
These unskilled workers, it was understood, had been struggling, under their association, to get increase in their wages but their efforts seems to prove futile as they get insignificant or no official pay rise.
“We have been begging the leadership of the marker to consider our plight to increase the payment but all our pleas go to their deaf ears. All the insignificant increase we get, is not officially from the leadership, it goes with the market forces and the fact that the situation changes. Prices of these commodities are increased at will, but our wages are not increased.
“Whenever we ask for increase, the leaders say they can’t because they get little profit. Our association has been up and doing to get our payment increase but to no avail. We have family. Majority of us are married and we solely depend on this job. Therefore, we plead with the leadership of the market to listen to our pleas and increase or wages,” he appealed.
The manual worker, who said he had been in the job for over 30 years, demands for increase in payment for unloading sugar, flour and rice to at least N50, while that of carton of sweet, biscuit, soap and others, should be capped at N10.
Another labourer, who also spoke on anonymity because he was not authorized to speak in, said he has been in the business for about 20 years since when N5 was paid for unloading bag of sugar, rice and flour, which had been rising and stopped at N30 for years back.
According to him, their association had discovered that their struggles to get pay rise was scuttled by the division in the main association of the market.
He said the association of the labourers had transmitted their request for the wage increase to the Amalgamated Traders Association in the market, but their request was halted following the launch of new association, Singer Market Development Association, SIMDA.
He said they are now waiting for SIMDA to implement their request, containing the template for increase in the wage.
“So, we are now waiting for them to consider our request. We are still grappling to manage the little we get daily.
“Information at our disposal indicated that some compassionate major dealers had already started paying improved wages to the labourers. So, we want the new leadership implement the increase to the whole market.
“Let me tell you that there are dealers that had not implemented the last wage increase in this market.
“We requested for N100 per a 50kg bag of rice, sugar and flour. But, we have heard that the request had been reviewed to N50. Wherever the case, we are calling on the new leadership of SIMDA to consider our plight and implement the increase,” he appealed.
In an interview with journalists during the launch of SIMDA in Kano on Saturday, November 18, the new Chairman of the association Barr. Junaidu M. Zakari promised to look into the situation to ensure welfare of the labourers.
While describing labourers as indispensable to the operation of the Singer market, Zakari said improving their welfare is at the overall development of the market.
According to him, the association had received there labourers’ request and would convene a meeting between them and the major dealers to discuss on the way forward.
“We have certainly received the request from the association of the labourers for increase in their wage. Honestly these labourers are key to the operation of this market. If they refuse to work, the whole market would shut down.
“So, there welfare should be taken care of. We will sit on the table between the labourers and the dealers to discuss on an agreed amount to be increased.
“Things are changing day in day out, so, they should see and benefit from the changes. So, we hope their wages would be increased, God willing,” he assured.
When contacted over the matter, the Chairman, Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Kano State, Comrade Kabiru Inuwa said the labour union can not intervene in the impasse without being formally informed by the labourers’association.
“We can not act on a report over an issue affecting any union without receiving a report from the affected union.
“The union is supposed to come to us, report to us, then we would see what to do.
“So, I will advise that let the union come or send to the NLC in writing, then we can intervene into the matter,” the labour leader said.