Ajaero Insists NLC Can Negotiate Alone, Disagrees With TUC President

The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, has insisted that his union has the authority to negotiate independently with the Federal Government on labour matters, disagreeing with the position of his Trade Union Congress (TUC) counterpart, Festus Osifo.

Ajaero maintained that while the TUC could participate in negotiations alongside the NLC, it could not independently engage labour authorities on workers’ welfare issues.

He made the clarification on Monday during an appearance on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, amid disagreements between the two labour centres over the Federal Government’s N70,000 monthly transport allowance for workers across all levels for six months.

According to Ajaero, the position is based on what he described as the International Labour Organisation’s principle of recognising the organisation representing the majority of workers.

“TUC can negotiate along with NLC but NLC can negotiate alone based on the principle of most workers representatives of the ILO,” he said.

The NLC president further argued that the TUC was expected to submit its proposals through the NLC when dealing with the ILO.

He said the TUC had previously submitted its negotiation proposals independently ahead of an ILO conference, but the documents were returned for onward processing through the NLC.

“They have to send their list here for me to forward it; that is the position of the ILO. NLC determines how TUC participates,” Ajaero stated.

He also argued that the Ministry of Labour and other relevant authorities would not independently negotiate with the TUC on workers’ welfare matters.

Responding to Osifo’s claim that the TUC represents a significant number of workers in the federal civil service, Ajaero cited the Trade Union Amendment Act 2005 and Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution, which he said guarantee workers the freedom to choose their unions.

“The 2005 Trade Union Amendment Act made membership of trade unions voluntary,” he said.

He added that workers had the constitutional right to belong to any trade union, political or religious organisation of their choice.

Ajaero also challenged the TUC’s claims about its membership strength, arguing that the composition of the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council did not support the position.

According to him, only one of the eight union bodies in the joint council is affiliated with the TUC, while the remaining seven belong to the NLC. He further claimed that the TUC-affiliated union had subjected its powers to the joint council.

Explaining how the N70,000 transport allowance agreement was reached, Ajaero said the NLC had issued an ultimatum to the Federal Government before negotiations led to the intervention.

“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 also maintained that minimum wage negotiations require the government to establish a negotiation committee before formal demands can be presented. He said any wage increase must involve consultations between labour leaders, government representatives and employers.