Opinion Piece- Wage Wars in Zambia

A minimum wage sets the lower limit of what employees earn from their labours. The problem with the ongoing debate on the use of this economic tool in Zambia is that the debate does not seem to adequately reflect progression to a living wage.

The living wage is two-fold, it must be met by both the employee and their employer. The necessary considerations as to whether raising the minimum wage by over a hundred percent makes economic sense ought to put into perspective the basic principles of undergraduate economics of supply and demand. In as much as demand for the proposed increments in minimum wage continues to be resounded, Zambia's financial and economic leaders are characteristically mute about what or who is going to supply this demand. While the real wages of salaried employees continue to diminish because of inflation instability owing to yet another 'dragon' of a measure in the guise of anti-dollarisation (which deserves an article to itself), they have to contemplate forgoing even more of the diminished income by meting out wage increments beyond the scope of what I think is rational thinking.

The dismissal of the linkage between the minimum  wage and living wage simply reverses the current status quo by pushing those in lower income jobs to a level of affordable living whilst pushing their employers out of the realm of affordable living by virtue of having to pay unrealistic and unsustainable wage bills, in the context of the Zambian economy. The current government's political ammunition has been the promise of 'more money in your pockets'. The little disclaimer they forgot to attach to that is this money seems to be merely shifting from the pockets of approximately 750,000 to meet the hundred percent plus minimum wage increments of at least 2,386,000 people. This basically means that the 'average' salaried employer needs to meet the wage demands of at least 3 employees (targeted in this instance are house helpers, gardeners and security guards).

Without trying to come off as an unpatriotic citizen, I am compelled to ask the question- what then is the role of the government in increasing the welfare of ALL Zambians and not just of those that they believe put them in power? Is it to merely manipulate the legislative system and play 'Robin Hood' by redistributing wealth from those just getting by to those employed by them? My naivety in using a purely academic approach to this issue may be redressed by insightful comments from those that may have a better understanding of the issue than I do- it is on this note that I invite you all to contribute to this forum with questions and comments on a matter that affects us all. All opinions and shared knowledge  are respected.