The President of the Trade Union Congress, Festus Osifo, has declared that the union is not interested in temporary wage awards, insisting that the Federal Government should instead increase workers’ monthly salaries to provide lasting relief amid economic hardship.
Osifo said the union’s position was reached at its National Administrative Council meeting on October 8, where it reviewed the economic challenges facing Nigerian workers and resolved to push for salary increases rather than temporary wage awards.
“First, for us in the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, at a time—some time in October this year, precisely on the 8th of October—we had the National Administrative Council meeting. In that National Administrative Council meeting, we analyzed the challenges that Nigerian workers are passing through and what we think would be the best approach to push to government for them to ameliorate the challenges. This was in addition to the earlier position we took about a month earlier.
“Generally, when we had that conversation, we had a press conference which your station was actively present, and we outlined some of the things. Chief of them for us was, number one, that the pay of the Nigerian worker should be increased in terms of salary. We opine that you don’t need a minimum wage review for you to increase salary.”
He explained that wage awards had proved unreliable, recalling that the Federal Government failed to implement the 2023 agreement promptly and that some federal workers were still yet to receive the payments.
“We have child wage award before, and that wage award that we tried in 2023—if you remember when we signed an agreement with government after the first subsidy removal, October 2nd, 2023—in that agreement that we signed, government said they would start implementing it immediately. But government did not implement it till January/February 2024. And they would pay this month, they would not pay the next month.
“There are some federal government workers today that have accosted me severally that they didn’t receive that wage award that was approved in 2023, October 2nd.
“So the question is now that some workers received, yes, some did not receive. In fact, those that did not receive, they have been accosting us.
“That was why we decided, in our National Administrative Council meeting, that anything that government can increase wages of workers without minimum wage conversation—because there is no maximum wage in Nigeria, there is no ceiling. If there was a maximum wage, then you could say it’s difficult to go above that, but it’s a minimum floor. What that means is that government can decide to pay workers any amount of money, but it should not be below 70,000. That’s what it means.”
The TUC president said the union had communicated its position to President Bola Tinubu through the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, maintaining that any relief for workers should be added to their regular monthly salaries.
“So we wrote a letter to the President via the office of the SGF, and we have been having some interactions. Our position has been clear: we mentioned wage awards to us as at then, we told them that we are not interested in wage award, that anything you are bringing, you have to add it to the routine monthly salary so that we will not fall into the trap that happened to us in 2023, October 2nd.
“So that was our position, that is our position as at today, that what is far-reaching for the Nigerian worker should be something that we added to what they earn every month.”
He questioned why the Federal Government was still paying the ₦70,000 minimum wage when some states had increased theirs to over ₦100,000.
“Because, you know the minimum wage is 70,000. Some states today are paying over 100,000. Why is the federal government still paying 70,000? So that has been our position, that government can add.”
Osifo also called attention to the plight of pensioners, noting that some receive as little as ₦20,000 to ₦30,000 monthly despite their age and medical needs. He questioned the government’s response to their hardship.
“Today, pensioners are suffering. Pensioners are suffering today. And today, some pensioners earn 20,000, 30,000 Naira per month. What can this do for them? People that are old, they have medical challenges. So now, what have you done regarding those sets of people?”
Favour Odima
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