The Nigeria Labour Congress on Sunday denied negotiating the N40,000 consequential salary adjustment approved for Federal Government workers following the implementation of the N70,000 national minimum wage.
The labour centre said the agreement was reached by public sector unions, stressing that it was not involved in the negotiations.
Consequential adjustment refers to changes made to existing salary structures following an increase in the national minimum wage. It determines how workers across different salary levels benefit from a new wage floor, including those earning above the statutory minimum.
The congress explained that its role in the minimum wage process was restricted to negotiating the national wage through a tripartite arrangement involving organised labour, the government and employers.
It said adjustments to existing salary structures were negotiated separately by unions within their respective sectors.
In a statement signed by its Acting General Secretary, Benson Upah, the NLC described reports that it negotiated the N40,000 across-the-board salary increase for federal workers as false and a misrepresentation of Nigeria’s collective bargaining framework.
“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,” Upah said.
The adjustment involves reviewing salaries across different grade levels to preserve the pay differences between junior and senior employees, rather than limiting the new minimum wage implementation to workers earning below the statutory threshold.
The NLC maintained that negotiations on the adjustment were the responsibility of unions representing public sector workers, particularly those directly involved in discussions with the Federal Government.
