TUC Rejects Fresh Wage Award, Demands Permanent Salary Increase

The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has rejected another wage award and demanded a sustainable salary increase to improve workers’ welfare and purchasing power. The TUC’s position is in a communiqué signed by Secretary-General Nuhu Toro after an emergency National Administrative Council (NAC) meeting.

The Congress said another temporary intervention would not adequately address workers’ financial challenges. It insisted a permanent salary increase was necessary to improve living standards.

TUC rejects another temporary wage award

The demand follows the Federal Government’s failure to fully implement the 2023 wage award agreement reached with organised labour. Toro said the agreement signed on October 2, 2023, provided a wage award as a palliative until the new national minimum wage became law on July 29, 2024. Workers received an average of only three months out of the 10 months agreed.

“The Congress is demanding a salary increase and not another wage award,” Toro said. He maintained that another wage award would provide only temporary relief rather than the sustainable intervention required to improve workers’ purchasing power and living conditions. He stressed that the national minimum wage is a statutory floor, not a ceiling that limits further salary negotiations.

The TUC said its position matched that of public-sector affiliates including the Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals, Research Institutes and Associated Institutions (SSAUTHRAI), the National Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP) and the Senior Staff Association of Statutory Corporations and Government Owned Companies (SSASCGOC).

Unfulfilled 2023 wage agreement

The TUC said some workers were still owed one or two months of the allowance, while others did not receive it. Some who received payments got up to four months of the N40,000 award, but with irregular disbursements and gaps of one or two months. The union claimed more than 80% of states and the informal sector did not implement any form of wage award. It argued that permanent salary adjustments would provide more dependable relief than temporary payments whose implementation could be inconsistent.

The TUC insisted that workers’ welfare could not be improved by disregarding collective bargaining rights or undermining legitimate union representation in negotiations over conditions of service. Toro cited International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions 87 and 98, which protect freedom of association and the right to organise and bargain collectively. He reaffirmed the TUC’s status as a recognised trade union centre with the mandate to represent and negotiate for its members. The Congress said it remained committed to constructive engagement with the government to implement resolutions reached at its October 8, 2026 meeting in Abuja.

TUC renews N300,000 salary demand

The TUC’s demand follows its October 8, 2026 letter to the Federal Government, submitted through the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, calling for urgent measures to address economic hardship. The union proposed raising the salary of the lowest-paid federal worker from the current N70,000 minimum wage to N300,000, with applicable consequential adjustments for other salary levels. It argued the government did not need to wait for a new minimum wage negotiation before increasing workers’ pay, noting some states had introduced minimum wages above N100,000.

The demand comes amid pressure from organised labour over rising living costs and declining purchasing power. In October 2026, 77.2% of Nigerian households perceived inflation as high in September, up from 67.2% in August, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s inflation expectations survey. Households earning below N70,000 recorded the highest inflation perception at 80%. Also in October, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) gave the Federal Government a two-week ultimatum to reduce petrol prices, begin minimum wage renegotiations and address outstanding workers’ demands, including the February 2026 settlement with the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU).

The TUC has also called for timely payment of salaries and pensions, protection of existing jobs, action against exploitative labour practices and measures to reduce the cost of essential goods and services. It said the hardship affects federal workers, state and local government employees, pensioners, private-sector workers and people in the informal economy.