The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, has defended his organisation’s right to negotiate workers’ welfare issues independently, rejecting the position of his Trade Union Congress (TUC) counterpart, Festus Osifo, that both labour centres must be involved in such discussions.
Ajaero argued that the NLC could negotiate on behalf of its members without the TUC, relying on what he described as the International Labour Organisation’s principle of recognising the most representative workers’ organisation.
He stated this on Monday during an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, following the disagreement between the two labour centres over negotiations with the Federal Government on the N70,000 transport allowance approved for workers.
The NLC president maintained that although the TUC could participate in negotiations alongside the NLC, it could not independently engage labour authorities on the same issues.
“TUC can negotiate along with NLC but NLC can negotiate alone based on the principle of most workers representatives of the ILO,” Ajaero said.
He further claimed that the TUC was required to submit its proposals through the NLC when dealing with the ILO, citing an earlier instance in which the TUC allegedly submitted a list independently ahead of an ILO conference.
“TUC sent their negotiation alone ahead of the ILO conference but they returned it back and I had to minuted on it.
“They have to send their list here for me to forward it; that is the position of the ILO. NLC determines how TUC participates,” he said.
Ajaero also argued that the Ministry of Labour and other relevant authorities would not recognise the TUC as an independent negotiating body in the manner described by Osifo.
“TUC can’t negotiate alone; if they are saying and it is implied, it does not happen. I don’t think the Ministry of Labour or the Labour Authority will allow that to happen,” he added.
Responding to Osifo’s claim that the TUC represented a considerable number of workers in the Federal Civil Service, Ajaero referred to the Trade Union Amendment Act 2005 and Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution, which he said guaranteed workers the freedom to choose their trade unions.
“The 2005 Trade Union Amendment Act made membership of trade unions voluntary.
“It is the worker that determines the union he belongs to; the Act makes
“Section 40 of the Nigerian 1999 Constitution as amended was clear that every Nigerian worker has the right to belong to any trade union, political or religious institution of his choice, which gives every worker the latitude to belong to any union of their choice,” he said.
The NLC president also disputed the TUC’s position on representation in the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council, saying only one of the eight union bodies in the council was affiliated with the TUC, while the remaining seven belonged to the NLC.
He further claimed that the TUC-affiliated union had subjected its negotiating powers to the joint council, which, according to him, weakened the argument that the TUC should negotiate independently on behalf of its members.
Explaining how the N70,000 transport allowance agreement was reached, Ajaero said the NLC had earlier issued an ultimatum to the Federal Government over workers’ demands before the government requested additional time for discussions.
“We gave government an ultimatum; we were supposed to start an action. The government asked for four days and to meet with us, and we met, and they resumed sitting after four days.
“After the meeting, the 70k allowance came up,” he said.
Ajaero maintained that negotiations over minimum wage and other workers’ benefits required the involvement of the government, employers and labour representatives. He added that wage demands could not be presented without the government first setting up a negotiation committee.
The disagreement between the two labour leaders centres on the extent of authority each labour centre has in negotiations with the Federal Government and the representation of workers under their respective affiliates. Osifo had earlier described the agreement on the transport allowance as an aberration, insisting that the TUC should have been consulted.
