Esther Oritse
Lagos — Members of the Shipping Association of Nigeria (SAN) have stated that sustaining a N200,000 minimum wage in the shipping industry is not feasible without an increase in charges.
Speaking on the opposition to the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC)-approved shipping charges, SAN Chairman, Boma Alabi, said that while the Federal Government maintains a N70,000 minimum wage, operators in the shipping sub-sector pay N200,000, stressing that the disparity is unsustainable without implementation of the approved charges.
Recall that the Shipper’s Council suspended the approved shipping charges amid the opposition against its implementation by freight forwarders and Customs Agents, which culminated in the picketing of a shipping company in Lagos.
Alabi described the decision to suspend the newly approved tariff as surprising, noting that the Council appeared to have yielded too quickly.
Alabi said:”After their painstaking process which took months of interrogation and demand for information on all aspects of the business from the shipping lines.
“They grudgingly allowed this minor increase which is still below the rate of inflation, meanwhile our wage increases for our workers are always in line with or above inflation, thus squeezing the already thin margins of the shipping companies.
“Please bear in mind that they are Nigerian companies and rely on their locally generated income to cover their local costs. International freight income goes to the international shipping lines and their local representatives rely on their local income to pay their staff and run their operations.
“This can lead to closure of local offices and loss of jobs. Remember the old days when shipping lines didn’t have local offices but operated through an agent company?
“They can easily revert to that model and simply close their offices in Nigeria. It will not interfere with their operations but it will definitely lead to massive job losses in the industry. This is a real possibility in this situation.
“Our minimum wage at N200,000 Per Calendar Month, PCM, is the highest of any sector in Nigeria. These wages are paid from the income generated locally.”
