samm:

Kobo's view point: Government should regulate. In the absense of regulation, companies are free to do as they please.
ekt bear's view point:  No government regulation.  Companies are there to make money. The workers are not being forced to work. They can quit if they do not like the wages or organize and demand for better wages.
Fhemmmy's view point: Companies are obligated to provide a company defined "decent working condition" since government might not be quite effective in regulation companies.


All three viewpoints combined forms a responsible solution.
There should always be balanced government regulation and enforcement e.g. setting minimum wage, good working conditions etc.  A company is out to make money and is mostly obligated to it's shareholders.
In most cases, they have the upper hand when dealing with their workers and not every group can fight for themselves.  In the absence of government regulation, the workers should organize and demand better wages and working conditions.  
Other related parties: The society at large. Lawyers, human right groups, labour groups, individual citizens. We should not always be spectators when we hear about things like this.  Every member of society has a duty to push for what is right.  That is how we become better.  It might be "them" today and you or yours tomorrow. With a vigilant society, companies are forced to adopt Fhemmy's viewpoint.  We have to set standards as to what we can tolerate collectively.

Ismile:

One thing those guys working there did not tell you is that they are entitle to a daily meal which is even more than the pay of $2.6 they are collecting.

They are also provided with detergent for washing their uniform.

They are provided with Bus to convey them from home to work and back to their various locations

They are entitle to be treated in the clinic for minor ailment, sickness, immunization, vaccination, free medical advisories, blood pressure, sugar level etc.

And some other benefits not mentioned here.

If you add up all these benefits or using Nigeria language of monitization, you will see that it will be more than what some permanent staff are collecting in other companies with same job.

I agree that the amount looks small and needed review but, note that:

They are hired by a Labour contractor who supplied them to Coca Cola. Thus, they do not have any obligation with Cocacola but with their employer.

If they think the amount is too small, they can form a union and demand for better pay from their employer (which is the third party labour contractor). The Labour contractor will in turn discuss it over with Coca Cola and the issue will be resolved.

If they are not satisfied with the resolution, they can simply quit.

Just the little I know on this issue.

Work at your own risk
As casual staff, they are not provided with the required safety gear, thus remaining exposed to work-related dangers, and are also paid lesser than their colleagues with permanent appointments.

Showing a deep scar which he claimed to have sustained at work, Mr Emoga said the company had refused to take any responsibility for it."The company said it was not their business since casual workers are not entitled to any health policy, so at the end of the day, I treated it myself, and yet, they refuse to provide us with safety gears," he said.

However, employee who wanted anonymity said engaging the casual workers through a third party removed some of the responsibilities, including the provision of safety gear, from his employer

The official said, "The third party has stated on their (workers') contract to come with covered shoes because we realized that when we used to engage them directly, some would take some of these things and refuse to show up for work again.

Ismile:

Kilode,

I can authoritatively tell you that everything I listed in my earlier post is the fact.

Can you just ask yourself how bad can Lagos be for someone to claim that he has been casual worker for the past 9 years? Even if he is selling recharge card, he will make more than 400 Naira in a day.

I passed through the same process and I can tell you that if you a prudent enough, you will still have a saves from there.

Also, you stand a chance of been employeed as a permanent staff if you have the right qualification and attitude with hard work whenever there is opportunity.

I can also authoritatively confirm to you that I knew of a Director that came into the company as casual and as at now he is a director.

Taking, Coca Cola has to do something about the take home of their contract staff, but demonizing the company will not be absolutely right.

Again, my little take on this subject.

Ismile:

One thing those guys working there did not tell you is that they are entitle to a daily meal which is even more than the pay of $2.6 they are collecting.
No sir. A plate of rice with one meat is not worth 400 naira and not all casuals end up eating.

They are also provided with detergent for washing their uniform. No Sir. That doesn't happen on all the lines. definitely not in Plant B. They can wash yes, but they source for detergent themselves to wash their work clothes, less than half have the check uniform for casuals.

They are provided with Bus to convey them from home to work and back to their various locations

They are entitle to be treated in the clinic for minor ailment, sickness, immunization, vaccination, free medical advisories, blood pressure, sugar level etc But not bottle cuts and other more serious injuries without a note from the safety office which most of them avoid due to issues later on/

And some other benefits not mentioned here. Nothing comes to mind except free drinks sometimes at the drinking spot and on the lines. That's not exactly a benefit

If you add up all these benefits or using Nigeria language of monitization, you will see that it will be more than what some permanent staff are collecting in other companies with same job.

I agree that the amount looks small and needed review but, note that:

They are hired by a Labour contractor who supplied them to Coca Cola. Thus, they do not have any obligation with Cocacola but with their employer.

If they think the amount is too small, they can form a union and demand for better pay from their employer (which is the third party labour contractor). The Labour contractor will in turn discuss it over with Coca Cola and the issue will be resolved.

If they are not satisfied with the resolution, they can simply quit.

Just the little I know on this issue.

Phony200:

The whole casual staffing was outsourced simply to take away the responsibility from them and blame it on the supplier who i won't name. That;s the excuse.

Same with the forklift operators which is the reason why they are aso incorrigible too. I'm not saying they are bad people but a company that needs to send all casuals home when they have foreign visitors from CCHBC definitely has something to have.

I've seen people collapse, not once, not twice from the stress of debulking or sorting. Something has to be done. I agree with you that casuals have a chance at further employment that it's into contract staff roles which are nearly as bad too.

manny4life:

Casual Staff (aka contract workers) working under no safety conditions? That's bad, at times I wonder if Nigeria has Occupation and Safety laws. As for the pay, they are private organizations, govt cannot dictate the amount of wage to be paid to someone in a private sector but they can  increase the minimum wage.