Decent Work: Not Only About Salaries!

Those who are privileged to have a job in the competitive employment market in Cameroon joined their peers from across the globe Thursday May 1, 2025 to celebrate the 139th edition of the International Labour Day. The May Day, as it is sometimes called, is dedicated to celebrating the hard work and achievements of the working class, both in the public and private sectors, while advocating the respect of their rights and better working conditions. 
As the dust settles on the festivities which took several forms across the country, each worker and institution will certainly be reflecting on how the day fared and the way forward. More so based on the attitude the employers and employees demonstrated on the day through speeches from management, on one hand, and staff representatives, on the other. This, in their give-and-take partnership that logically needs constant polishing to stand growing work challenges. 
At least one similarity in most, if not all, the speeches were the pleas and or gratitude from personnel, depending on where they work and the conditions under which they work, as well as the encouraging words and promises from management to make tomorrow better than today. Of course, this was in line with Cameroon’s theme for this year’s International Labour Day, “Social Dialogue and Decent Work: For a Peaceful Cameroon.” This ties with government’s continuous struggle to ensure that no matter the height of challenges, employers and employees should always dialogue to seek common grounds for the good of all parties. 
Target is getting to where rights and responsibilities of both employers and employees are made known to all stakeholders, recognized and mutually respected. In fact Labour Day, from its conception, is a time to acknowledge the contributions of workers to society and to remind everyone on the need for insistent efforts for social justice and fair treatment at work. 
The much talk about decent work which overwhelmed commemorative activities throughout the week before culminating in march-pasts and merrymaking afterward on May 1 certainly meant different senses to different workers. More so because the reality on the field differs.
There are reports of employers who intimidate their workers, subject them to horrible working conditions and respect little or no prescription of the Labour Code. They hire and fire at will with no job contract, talk less of any contribution to social security. Under the pretext that the jobs are scarce to come by, those employers consider themselves as demi-gods to the employees who must yield to anything they do or want; just because of a salary, even if the take-home package cannot take the servant half way home. An either take-or-leave scenario! 
If the situation is more precarious in some not-well-structured private sectors where most enterprises are individually or family-owned with sometimes amateurish management that goes with it, the case of some government structures is not quite different. Working conditions are sometimes near horrible and the fear of the unknown often scares many workers from complaining. Even with the availability of staff representatives, sometimes hand-picked by management, most workers do not seem to feel the impact. For, the so-called staff representatives are either spies for management that selected and so satisfies them, or are afraid of what could befall them if they dare to show frank boldness in spearheading the plight of workers. Such persons reduce themselves to playing one-sided roles of conveying directives from hierarchy to the workers and not the intermediaries they are called upon to be.
In either of the cases, frustration sets in and productivity plummets. For, a worker who works out of fear, does not have all it takes to bring out the best in him and even lacks job security, owing to threats, cannot have job satisfaction, which is supposed to be ideal in all one does.
Some employees who have been crying foul are even seen to be going for equity with dirty hands. Imagine a worker who plays around throughout the month just to hurry and earn a salary for no work done. Some, mostly in the public sector, feel everything government must be abused. Some pretentiously spend eight hours at work for no work done and others are permanently sick or on permission even if they are known to be busy carrying out their private businesses. Even structures where electronic signing in, to ascertain the pre...