NLC insists on right to negotiate N70,000 transport palliative for workers

Three unions ditch JNPSNC, back TUC

President of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), Festus Osifo, and the National President of theNigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, have taken conflicting stances over whose authority it is to negotiate wages and allowances on behalf of Nigerian workers with the Federal Government.

Meanwhile, three registered public service unions have publicly disowned a statement issued in the name of the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC), declaring that no one can speak for workers without their mandate.

The controversy followed the Federal Government’s approval of a six-month palliative for workers at all levels.

While speaking on Channels Television’s ‘The Morning Brief’ yesterday, Ajero argued that NLC “has the power” to negotiate alone on labour matters based on the principle of most workers’ representatives of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

“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 noted.

On his part, the TUC president, while also appearing as a guest on Channels Television’s ‘The Morning Brief’ yesterday, described the N70,000 agreement by NLC as an aberration, saying that the TUC was not carried along in the negotiations.

Osifo challenged Ajaero to produce the ILO regulation document that said either labour union could negotiate on behalf of the other.

“He should show me in the ILO Regulations where it says one party is going to negotiate without the other being there or consulted. He should show Nigerians!” he said.

But Ajaero insisted: “NLC determines how TUC participates. The NLC does not submit its proposal to TUC. It is the other way round.”

He stated that the Ministry of Labour and other labour authorities would not engage with TUC, as it acts alone on workers’ welfare negotiations.

The trade congress leader, in his reply, said, “As I listened to Ajaero today, I was wondering if it is the same NLC that produced the likes of Adams Oshiomole, Hassan Sumonu, Ayuba Wabba and so on.

There is nowhere in ILO regulations that says a trade centre cannot negotiate for its members. It is not there! It is just that if you are going to the ILO, it is tripartite: the labour, government and the employers.”

On Osifo’s position that the TUC has over 300,000 members in the federal civil service, Ajaero said: “The 2005 Trade Union Amendment Act made membership of trade unions voluntary. It is the worker who determines the union he belongs to.

“Section 40 of the 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 argued that Osifo’s claim does not add up, given that only one TUC union belongs to the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC), which consists of eight union bodies, seven of which are in the NLC.

Speaking on the operation of the union, Osifo noted: “In that case, the two bodies must come together. We are not contesting the fact that NLC has more affiliates.

“But what we are saying is that you have about 60 affiliates while we have about 40. You cannot negotiate for a body that is represented, for a body that has a trade union. You cannot negotiate on their behalf! It is not there anywhere!”

According to Osifo, the meeting where the N70,000 transport allowance was agreed upon was not attended by members of JNPSNC and does not represent majority consensus.

Ajaero maintained that the NLC engaged with the Federal Government to secure the N70,000 transport intervention.

“We gave the government an ultimatum; we were supposed to start an action. The government asked for four days to meet with us, and we met, and they resumed sitting after four days. After the meeting, the N70,000 allowance came up,” Ajaero stated.

He asserted that minimum wage demands could not be presented when the government had not established a negotiation committee, stating that this required wider consultation among labour leaders, government officials, and employers before any wage increase could be agreed upon.

In a joint statement yesterday signed by President of the Senior Staff Association of Statutory Corporations and Government-Owned Companies (SSASCGOC), Kayode Alakija; President of the Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals, Research Institutes and Associated Institutions (SSAUTHRIAI), John Alli; and President of the Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP), Dr Kamal Ibrahim, noted that they were neither consulted nor invited to any meeting where the issues in the JNPSNC statement were discussed.

The unions said: “The statement is therefore unauthorised and cannot be passed off as the collective position of public service trade unions.
We did not participate in its preparation, endorse its contents or authorise anyone to speak on our behalf.”

The three unions also said the Vice Chairman of the JNPSNC, representing the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), was not consulted.