By Cross Udo, Abuja
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has denied negotiating the ₦40,000 across-the-board consequential adjustment granted to federal workers, insisting that the responsibility rested with public-sector unions and their respective negotiating bodies.
The Congress described claims linking it to the adjustment as a “deliberate distortion” of Nigeria’s collective bargaining framework, accusing unnamed individuals of attempting to shift responsibility for the outcome onto the labour centre.
In a statement issued on Sunday and signed by its Acting General Secretary, Benson Upah, the NLC said its role in the 2024 minimum wage negotiations was to secure a new national wage floor, not to determine consequential adjustments across different sectors.
“The claim that the NLC was responsible for negotiating the ₦40,000 across-the-board addition as a consequential adjustment for federal workers is not only false but is a deliberate distortion of the collective bargaining framework in Nigeria,” the statement said.
The Congress explained that the national minimum wage was negotiated through a tripartite process involving organised labour, government and employers, while adjustments to existing salary structures were handled by sector-specific negotiating bodies.
It identified the Joint Public Service Negotiating Council (JPSNC), comprising government representatives and public-sector unions, as the body responsible for negotiating implementation and consequential adjustments with the Federal Government.
According to the NLC, corresponding negotiating structures at the state level perform similar functions with state governments, while industrial unions in the private sector negotiate directly with employers’ associations.
“The NLC does not sit at the table to negotiate consequential adjustments in the various sectors,” it maintained.
The labour centre said the leadership of unions within the affected sectors should be held accountable for the outcomes of their respective negotiations.
It accused those attributing the ₦40,000 adjustment to the NLC of spreading misinformation and misleading Nigerian workers about the collective bargaining process.
The Congress further maintained that throughout the history of national minimum wage negotiations, its leadership had never negotiated consequential adjustments with government or private-sector employers.
Looking ahead, the NLC said it would work towards ensuring that the next minimum wage exercise produces an outcome that “approximates a living wage” for Nigerian workers.
It urged workers to hold the appropriate institutions accountable for their respective responsibilities, warning against attempts to create confusion within the labour movement.
