The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, has criticised the Trade Union Congress (TUC) for rejecting the Federal Government’s N70,000 transport allowance for public sector workers, describing the decision as “improper”.
Ajaero made the remarks during an interview on Channels Television on Thursday, arguing that the TUC did not participate in negotiations with the Federal Government that produced the agreement.
The TUC, led by its president, Festus Osifo, and Secretary-General, Nuhu Toro, announced its rejection of the six-month transportation allowance on Wednesday, describing temporary wage awards as neither “sustainable” nor “far-reaching”.
Instead, the union urged the government to increase workers’ salaries to cushion the effects of rising living costs.
The transport allowance was announced on Tuesday in a memorandum of understanding (MoU) issued after a conciliation meeting between government representatives and NLC leaders in Abuja.
Responding to the TUC’s position, Ajaero said the congress should have negotiated a separate agreement with the government rather than opposing the outcome of discussions it did not participate in.
He maintained that the TUC could pursue its own demands but lacked the authority to reject an agreement negotiated by the NLC.
“The agreement was not signed by TUC. You don’t kick against something you did not negotiate or ask for,” he said.
Ajaero added that he would have preferred both labour unions to present their respective demands during negotiations, with the TUC seeking a higher allowance if it considered the NLC’s proposal inadequate.
“I would have preferred a situation whereby if NLC was asking for one naira, TUC will be asking for 10 naira,” he said.
The NLC president also questioned the TUC’s position on the transportation intervention, saying the union had not previously requested assistance specifically to address the rising cost of transport.
“TUC never asked for intervention as a result of the rising cost of transportation. On the issue of asking for wage increase, does the government gift wage increase? There must be a process put in place,” Ajaero stated.
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He further expressed concern over the decision to reject an agreement that the TUC had neither negotiated nor signed.
“I’m worried for some time now why you will say you reject something that was not given to you. That is not proper,” he said.
Ajaero reiterated that the TUC remained free to approach the Federal Government with its own proposals but should not attempt to invalidate an agreement reached by another labour organisation.
“You don’t have the power to reject what a sister agency negotiates. You have the power to ask for your own,” he added.
Both the NLC and TUC have repeatedly called for an increase in the national minimum wage, arguing that workers need better pay to cope with prevailing economic pressures.