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By Joan Nwagwu
The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has argued that another wage award would not provide the sustainable intervention required to improve purchasing power and living standards of workers in the country.
TUC said this on Thursday while expressing its opposition to the agreement by the Federal Government to cushion the effects of the hardship in the country on workers with wage award of three months.
The Federal Government agreed to pay new wage award of N70,000 per worker at a meeting with the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC and other stakeholders.
However, TUC said instead of wage award, the Federal Government should implement a sustainable salary increase to improve workers’ welfare and purchasing power.
This was contained in a communiqué signed by Mr Nuhu Toro, TUC Secretary-General at the end of its emergency National Administrative Council (NAC) and issued on Thursday in Abuja.
Toro said the Congress remained committed to protecting workers’ interests, collective bargaining and purposeful leadership.
TUC added that the demand for a salary increase followed the Federal Government’s failure to fully implement the 2023 wage award agreement reached with organised labour.
According to him, the agreement reached on Oct. 2, 2023, provided for a wage award palliative to run until the new minimum wage became law on July 29, 2024.
“Under the agreement, workers received an average of only three months out of the 10 months agreed upon,” he said.
He maintained that another wage award would not provide the sustainable intervention required to improve workers’ purchasing power and living standards.
“The Congress is demanding a salary increase and not another wage award,” he said, reaffirming the position earlier communicated in its Oct. 21 press release.
Toro emphasised that the national minimum wage was a statutory floor and should not be regarded as a ceiling on workers’ earnings.
He also acknowledged the positions of the Congress’s public-sector affiliates, including SSAUTHRAI, NUAHP and SSASCGOC, describing them as consistent with TUC’s earlier position.
He said workers’ welfare could not be advanced by disregarding collective bargaining rights or undermining unions’ legitimate representation on conditions of service.
“The rights of affected unions to collective bargaining and legitimate representation in matters concerning their conditions of service must be respected,” he said.
Toro reaffirmed TUC’s status as a recognised trade union centre with the mandate to represent, defend and negotiate for its members, citing ILO Conventions 87 and 98.
He said the Congress would continue constructive and result-oriented engagement with government to implement resolutions reached at its Oct. 8, 2026 meeting in Abuja.
He called for the removal of barriers confronting federal and state government employees, stressing the need for practical solutions to their challenges.
On accountability, Toro reaffirmed the NAC’s commitment to the National Executive Council (NEC), the highest decision-making organ between delegates’ conferences.
He urged TUC leaders to focus on securing improved salaries through stakeholder engagement rather than public exchanges, adding that workers’ welfare remained non-negotiable.
“The Congress believes in purposeful, result-oriented leadership that delivers tangible benefits to workers rather than distractions, endless discussions or unsustainable interventions,” he said. (NAN)
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