The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has denied reports that it negotiated the ₦40,000 consequential adjustment granted to federal workers following the implementation of the ₦70,000 national minimum wage.
The NLC clarified that the responsibility for the consequential wage negotiation rested solely with public sector unions.
The Congress described claims linking it to the negotiation of the adjustment as false, accusing unnamed individuals of deliberately distorting Nigeria’s collective bargaining framework to mislead workers and create divisions within the labour movement.
Naija News reports that the position of the NLC was made known in a statement issued on Sunday and signed by its Acting General Secretary, Comrade Benson Upah.
The NLC said its role in the 2024 minimum wage negotiations was restricted to determining the national minimum wage, which serves as the basic salary floor for workers.
It explained that consequential adjustments, which involve reviewing existing salary structures to reflect a new minimum wage, were negotiated separately by unions in their respective sectors.
“For the purpose of clarity, we state that the national minimum wage is set through a tripartite process involving the labour movement, the government, and employers’ representatives.
“The NLC’s mandate at this stage is clear and unambiguous: to negotiate the national minimum wage; the primary and basic floor below which no worker should be paid,” the statement partly read.
The Congress said the Joint Public Service Negotiating Council, comprising government representatives and about eight trade unions with their national leadership, handled negotiations on the implementation and consequential adjustments with the Federal Government.
It added that similar arrangements existed at the state level, where the councils negotiated with state governments, while industrial unions engaged employers’ associations on wage adjustments in the private sector.
Citing the food and beverage industry, the NLC said the Association of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Employers negotiated with the National Union of Food, Beverages and Tobacco Employees on applying the new minimum wage within the sector.
The labour centre stressed that its representation of workers across the public and private sectors did not make it responsible for negotiating consequential adjustments on behalf of individual unions.
“The NLC represents both the private and public sectors. However, it is critically important to understand that the NLC does not sit at the table to negotiate consequential adjustments in the various sectors.
“The leadership of the unions in these sectors bears sole responsibility for the outcomes of consequential adjustments in their respective sectors,” it said.
Specifically addressing the ₦40,000 adjustment for federal workers, the Congress insisted that public sector union leaders spearheaded the effort, not the NLC.
“Therefore, the claim that the NLC was responsible for negotiating the N40,000 across-the-board addition as consequential adjustment for federal workers is not only false but is a deliberate distortion of the collective bargaining framework in Nigeria.
“The N40,000 outcome was the sole responsibility of the leadership of the unions in the public sector,” the statement added.
The NLC also accused some individuals of attempting to shift blame over the adjustment to create confusion within the labour movement, particularly as preparations begin for another round of national minimum wage negotiations.
It maintained that the Congress had never negotiated consequential adjustments with either the government or organised private sector employers.
“Throughout the history of the national minimum wage setting exercise, the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has never sat down to negotiate consequential adjustment with neither the government nor the organised private sector employers,” it said.
The Congress warned that attempts to hold it responsible for the ₦40,000 outcome could undermine unity among workers at a critical time.
“The enemies of the working class are attempting to sow confusion and division within our ranks by shifting blame and obscuring the true loci of responsibility as we begin the negotiation of a new national minimum wage,” it said.
New Minimum Wage
The NLC pledged to push for a new minimum wage that would reflect prevailing economic realities and move closer to a living wage.
It urged workers and the wider public to hold the appropriate institutions accountable for their respective roles in the negotiation process.
“The new national minimum wage is on the verge of being negotiated. This is a critical moment for Nigerian workers and the masses to take necessary steps to hold specific institutions accountable for their specific expectations.
“The NLC will do its best to ensure that the outcome of this forthcoming exercise continues to serve Nigerian workers and masses and approximates a living wage,” the statement added.
The Congress also promised to introduce measures to ensure that future consequential adjustment negotiations were conducted by the appropriate institutions and produced better outcomes for workers.
