The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero, has insisted that the union has the authority to negotiate alone on labour matters, countering the position of his Trade Union Congress counterpart, Festus Osifo, that both labour centres must participate in such negotiations.
Ajaero said the TUC could negotiate alongside the NLC but could not independently negotiate with labour authorities, citing what he described as the principle of most workers’ representatives under the International Labour Organisation.
He spoke on Monday while appearing as a guest on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, amid the disagreement between the two labour bodies over the N70,000 transport allowance approved by the Federal Government for workers across all levels for six months. v
“TUC can negotiate along with NLC but NLC can negotiate alone based on the principle of most workers representatives of the ILO,” the NLC president said.
Ajaero argued that the TUC was required to present its proposals to the NLC for onward submission when engaging with the ILO.
“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.
He added that the Ministry of Labour and other labour authorities would not engage with the TUC independently on workers’ welfare negotiations.
“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.”
Responding to Osifo’s claim that the TUC had a significant number of workers in the federal civil service, Ajaero cited the Trade Union Amendment Act 2005 and the 1999 Constitution, arguing that workers had the right to choose their 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.
Ajaero also argued that Osifo’s claim about the number of workers represented by the TUC did not reflect the composition of the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council.
According to him, only one of the eight union bodies in the joint council belongs to the TUC, while the remaining seven are affiliated with the NLC.
He further argued that the TUC-affiliated union in the joint body had subjected its powers to the council.
Explaining how the N70,000 transport allowance agreement was reached, Ajaero said the NLC had issued an ultimatum to the Federal Government before the intervention was agreed upon.
“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.
The NLC president maintained that minimum wage demands could not be presented without the government first establishing a negotiation committee, adding that any wage increase required consultations involving labour leaders, government officials and employers.