The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) have urged journalists to prioritise workers’ welfare over differences within organised labour, particularly amid minimum wage negotiations.
The unions made the call on Thursday at the third annual Labour Conference of the Labour Correspondents’ Association of Nigeria (LACAN) in Abuja.
The conference was themed: “Minimum Wage, Economic Reforms and Election 2027: Labour, Governance and Stability.”
Mr Joe Ajaero, NLC President, represented by Mr Christopher Onyeka, Assistant General Secretary, urged journalists to report labour issues accurately and resist attempts to destabilise the labour movement.
“Report the facts; do not amplify propaganda. I urge the media to clarify industrial relations issues and avoid narratives capable of deepening divisions within organised labour,” he said.
Ajaero said the future of work must protect workers against casualisation, poor remuneration and job insecurity while guaranteeing social protection, collective bargaining and the right to organise.
He urged journalists to scrutinise politicians’ plans for workers ahead of the 2027 elections and support the struggle for a living wage.
He insisted that economic reforms must not worsen workers’ hardship.
Mr Festus Osifo, TUC President, represented by Mr Bosun Olabiyi-Agoro, President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), said technological advances were transforming workplaces.
“Things are changing, and as workers, we must begin to adapt,” Osifo said.
He urged workers to acquire relevant skills to remain employable as artificial intelligence continued to transform work processes.
On minimum wage negotiations, Osifo urged organised labour to unite and cautioned the Federal Government against exploiting differences between the NLC and TUC to weaken their collective bargaining position.
He said the TUC opposed repeating the 2023 wage award approach because several states failed to implement it.
He added that the Federal Government’s implementation allegedly fell short of the agreement reached.
Osifo urged journalists to focus on workers’ welfare rather than magnifying differences between the unions, stressing that both agreed workers’ remuneration remained inadequate.
He also urged the Federal Government to channel increased crude oil revenue towards improving workers’ living conditions.
Meanwhile, Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf said the state had commenced implementing the N71,000 national minimum wage and consequential adjustments negotiated with the Joint Public Service Negotiating Council (JPSNC).
Yusuf, represented by Dr Ibrahim Mai-Karfi, Kano Chairman of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives, said no public servant in the state should earn below the approved minimum wage.
“We believe a worker deserves his wages and a living wage,” he said.
He added that the government had addressed outstanding allowances and consequential adjustments for health workers, teachers and nurses.
Yusuf said the state maintained regular salary payments on the 25th of every month and had released promotion arrears, death benefits and pension benefits.
He added that the state had recruited more than 2,000 health workers.
Yusuf urged labour unions to sustain industrial harmony through dialogue.
He assured workers that his administration would continue negotiating with them and implementing agreements ahead of the 2027 general elections.(NAN)
