Preparación del esmalte para aplicación.

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MODULE FIVE: LABOUR POLICIES UNIT 1 Minimum Wage Laws

UNIT 2 Labour Welfare Reform UNIT 3 Trade Union Policies

UNIT 1: Minimum Wage Laws

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raise the prices of their product or service to accommodate the extra expense of paying a higher wage.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:

1. Understand the meaning of minimum wage 2. The politics of minimum wage in Nigeria

3.0 MAIN CONTENT

3.1. Informal minimum wages

Customs and extra-legal pressures from governments or labor unions can produce a de facto minimum wage. So can international public opinion, by pressuring multinational companies to pay Third World workers’ wages usually found in more industrialized countries. The latter situation in Southeast Asia and Latin America was publicized in the 2000s, but it existed with companies in West Africa in the middle of the 20th century.

SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE

Briefly explain the meaning of Informal minimum wage.

3.2 Setting minimum wage

Among the indicators that might be used to establish an initial minimum wage rate are ones that minimize the loss of jobs while preserving international competitiveness.^[29] Among these are general economic conditions as measured by real and nominal gross domestic product; inflation; labor supply and demand; wage levels, distribution and differentials; employment terms; productivity growth; labor costs;

business operating costs; the number and trend of bankruptcies; economic freedom rankings; standards of living and the prevailing average wage rate.

In the business sector, concerns include the expected increased cost of doing business, threats to profitability, rising levels of unemployment (and subsequent higher government expenditure on welfare benefits raising tax rates), and the possible knock-on effects to the

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wages of more experienced workers who might already be earning the new statutory minimum wage, or slightly more.^[30] Among workers and their representatives, political considerations weigh in as labor leaders seek to win support by demanding the highest possible rate. Other concerns include purchasing power, inflation indexing and standardized working hours.

In the United States, the minimum wage has been set under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the minimum wage in the United States would have been $18.28 in 2013 if the minimum wage had kept pace with labor productivity. To adjust for increased rates of worker productivity in the United States, raising the minimum wage to $22 (or more) an hour has been presented.

SELF ASSESSSMENT EXERCISE Explain how minimum wage is set.

4.0. CONLUSION

In this unit, we can conclude that a minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their workers—the price floor below which workers may not sell their labor.

5.0 SUMMARY

In this unit, we have discussed the concept of Minimum Wage Laws in relations to Informal minimum wages and Setting minimum wage.

6.0. TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

1. Understand the meaning of minimum wage 2. Discuss the politics of minimum wage in Nigeria 3. Explain how minimum wage is setting?

4. Briefly explain the meaning of Informal minimum wage.

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7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READINGS

Allport, Gordon W. 1958. The Nature of Prejudice. New York: Doubleday Anchor Books.

Altonji, Joseph G., and Thomas A. Dunn. 2000. An Intergenerational Model of Wages, Hours, and Earnings. Journal of Human Resources 35 (2): 221–258.

Altonji, Joseph G., Ulrich Doraszelski, and Lewis Segal. 2000. Black/White Differences in Wealth. Economic Perspectives 24 (1): 38–50.

Arrow, Kenneth J. 1985. Collected Papers of Kenneth J. Arrow: Applied Economics.Vol.

6. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

Becker, Gary S. 1957. The Economics of Discrimination: An Economic View of Racial Discrimination. 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Bergmann, Barbara. 1971. The Effect of White Income on Discrimination in Employment. Journal of Political Economy 79: 294–313.

Blau, Francine, and John W. Graham. 1990. Black-White Differences in Wealth and Asset Composition. Quarterly Journal of Economics 105 (2): 321–339.

Darity, William A., Jr. 1984. Labor Economics: Modern Views. Boston: Kluwer-Nijhoff Publishing.

Darity, William A., Jr., and Jessica Gordon Nembhard. 2000. Racial and Ethnic Economic Inequality: The International Record. American Economic Review 90:

308–311.

Darity, William A., Jr., and Patrick L. Mason. 1998. Evidence on Discrimination in Employment: Codes of Color, Codes of Gender. Journal of Economic Perspectives 12: 63–90.

Darity, William A., Jr., and Rhonda M. Williams. 1985. Peddlers Forever? Culture, Competition, and Discrimination. American Economic Review 256–261.

Darity, William A., Jr., James B. Stewart, and Patrick L. Mason. 1999. Male Interracial Wage Differentials: Competing Explanations. Cambridge Journal of Economics 23 (May): 1–39.

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Darity, William A., Jr., James B. Stewart, and Patrick L. Mason. 2006. The Economics of Identity: The Origin and Persistence of Racial Norms. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organizations 60 (3): 283–305.

Edgeworth, Francis Y. 1922. Equal Pay to Men and Women for Equal Work. The Economic Journal 32 (128): 431–457.

Mason, Patrick L. 1995. Race, Competition and Differential Wages. Cambridge Journal of Economics 19 (4): 545–568.

Myrdal, Gunnar. 1944. An American Dilemma. New York: Harper.

Phelps, Edmund. 1972. The Statistical Theory of Racism and Sexism. American Economic Review (September): 659–661.

Schelling, Thomas. 1969. Models of Segregation. American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings 59 (2): 488–493.

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UNIT 2 Labour Welfare Reform