Currently, nothing seems to be coming from the private sector, at least publicly, even though 20 states have either started paying the new national minimum wage for public workers or have indicated that they are prepared to do so after President Bola Tinubu signed the N70,000 minimum wage into law in August 2024.

However, organised labour in the industry, acting through the National Union of Textile Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN) and the employers’ body on the Nigeria Textile, Garment and Tailoring Employers Association (NTGTEA) platform, have agreed to a 25% pay increase for the lowest paid workers in the sector, bringing their take-home pay to N75,000, which may have opened the door for the private sector.

On October 21, 2024, the NUTGTWN and NTGTEA convened in Lagos under the auspices of the National Joint Industrial Negotiating Council, or NJINC, to examine the sector’s current collective bargaining agreement, or CBA.

The NJINC had its 45th meeting since its founding in 1979, according to reports.

The sectoral CBA has a two-year term and a reopener clause that says that “both parties shall meet to discuss the specific item where there are compelling economic circumstances and/or Government pronouncement on wages while the agreement still subsists necessitating a re-visitation of the agreement.”

It was revealed that the collective agreement was last reviewed in 2022.

But according to a statement from NUTGTWN President and General Secretary Peters Godonu and Ali Baba, “the union also negotiated a wage award for workers in the sector effective November 2023 pending the review of the subsisting collective bargaining agreement, following the approval of a wage award for government workers in 2023 to cushion the effect of removal of petrol subsidy.”

It is noteworthy that the union continued to fight for a living wage for members by negotiating a new collective agreement with employers, despite the present economic difficulties and the unique operational difficulties of the textile sub-sector. The industrial wage rate was raised by 25% and above the national minimum wage as a result of the new agreement. Basic pay, medical benefits, transportation benefits, food subsidies, night shift benefits, and out-of-station benefits are a few of the issues that were examined. The deal will go into force on August 1st, 2024, and last for 24 months.

As it wraps up discussions to include pertinent provisions of ILO Conventions 190 and 155 into the sectoral collective bargaining agreement, the NJINC also reaffirmed its commitment to a safe, healthy workplace free from harassment and violence. The successful conclusion of this year’s negotiation is the consequence of the employers’ cooperation, our members’ support, and the leadership’s dedication.

We appreciate the support from all of our members. In spite of the difficulties, we also applaud the employers and textile management represented by the Nigerian Textile Garment and Tailoring Employers Association, or NTGTEA, for maintaining their confidence.

The fact that the NJINC has signed well over 45 collective agreements in its 45 years of existence without registering a single strike action in the industry makes this agreement—and the earlier agreements, for that matter—newsworthy.

The textile business continues to face formidable obstacles.

The takeaway from this is that salary negotiations don’t have to be contentious and dysfunctional as long as there is a working collective bargaining mechanism and everyone is willing.

We express our gratitude to all of our partners, including the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, IndustriALL Global Union, International Labour Organisation, ILO, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, and FES, among others, for their assistance in maintaining a strong social dialogue mechanism in a sector that is experiencing economic downturns.

We should point out, nonetheless, that in order for this agreement to last, the government must start and carry out a number of industrial initiatives that will immediately safeguard the current employment in the industry. The textile industry still faces numerous obstacles despite efforts to revitalise it, such as high production costs that have made its products uncompetitive, unchecked smuggling and counterfeiting of Made-in-Nigeria textiles, low patronage despite FG’s Executive Order 003, an expensive and insufficient electricity supply, poor infrastructure, high taxes and interest rates, and the declining value of the naira.

We urge the government to take more action to create the conditions necessary for the resurgence of Nigeria’s textile sector and manufacturing in general.