The dispute between the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) over the Federal Government’s N70000 monthly transport allowance for federal workers has intensified with both labour centres exchanging accusations over their authority to negotiate on behalf of workers.
The NLC President Joe Ajaero on Monday insisted that his congress could independently negotiate labour matters with the Federal Government while the TUC President Festus Osifo accused him of excluding the congress from negotiations.
The disagreement followed the Federal Government’s approval of the N70000 monthly transportation intervention for workers across all levels for six months.
Appearing on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief Ajaero said the NLC could negotiate alone based on the International Labour Organisation’s principle of representation by the most representative workers’ organisation.
‘TUC can negotiate along with NLC but NLC can negotiate alone based on the principle of most workers’ representatives of the ILO’ he said.
He maintained that the TUC could not independently negotiate with labour authorities adding that its proposals had to be submitted through the NLC.
‘TUC sent their negotiation alone ahead of the ILO conference but they returned it back and I had to minute 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 cited the Trade Union Amendment Act 2005 and Section 40 of 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’ he said.
He further argued that only one TUC-affiliated union belonged to the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council while seven of its eight constituent unions were affiliated with the NLC.
On the N70000 transport allowance Ajaero said the NLC secured the intervention after issuing the Federal Government an ultimatum and threatening industrial action.
‘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.
But Osifo described the agreement as an aberration insisting that the TUC was not consulted during the negotiations.
Speaking on the same television programme he challenged Ajaero to produce any ILO regulation authorising one labour centre to negotiate on behalf of another without consultation.
‘He should show me in the ILO regulations where it says one party is going to negotiate without the other one being there or consulted. He should show me! He should show Nigerians!’ Osifo said.
He argued that the existence of separate labour centres meant that neither could claim the right to negotiate for the other without its consent.
‘You cannot negotiate for a body that is represented for a body that has a trade union. You cannot negotiate for them on their behalf! It is not there anywhere!’ he said.
Osifo also faulted Ajaero’s interpretation of the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council insisting that the meeting at which the transport allowance was agreed was not a formal council meeting.
‘But that meeting that took place was not the Council meeting. The Minister is not a member of the Council. Ajaero is not a member of the Council. The Council even has a quorum and the number of persons that must be seated to form a quorum. But at the end of the day that meeting was not a JNC meeting. The members of JNC were not there!’ he said.
He further criticised the application of a flat N40000 consequential adjustment across the public service following the increase in the minimum wage from N30000 to N70000.
Osifo said the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council should have determined the consequential adjustments rather than applying the difference uniformly.
The dispute has also drawn three public service trade unions which disowned a press release issued in the name of the JNPSNC on October 30 accusing the council of excluding them from discussions.
The Senior Staff Association of Statutory Corporations and Government-Owned Companies (SSASCGOC) Senior Staff Association of Universities Teaching Hospitals Research Institutes and Associated Institutions (SSAUTHRIAI) and Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP) said they were neither consulted nor invited to the meeting preceding the statement.
In a joint statement signed by their presidents Kayode Alakija John Alli and Kamal Ibrahim the unions said they did not participate in preparing the release or authorise anyone to speak on their behalf.
They also alleged that the JNPSNC Vice-Chairman representing the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria was excluded from the consultation.
The unions aligned with the TUC in rejecting the N70000 transport intervention describing it as inadequate amid rising costs of transportation food and housing.
They said: ‘With transportation food housing and other essentials becoming increasingly unaffordable this intervention is no substitute for decent wages fair remuneration or sustainable improvement in workers’ living standards.’
They also faulted the previous consequential adjustment alleging that the council applied a flat N40000 addition across the board instead of a 133 per cent adjustment to the lowest-paid worker cascaded across the salary structure.
The unions demanded a review of the adjustment inclusive representation in public service negotiating structures and an end to issuing statements in their name without authorisation.
They maintained that the JNPSNC was a public service negotiating platform not a third national labour centre alongside the NLC and TUC.
The unions declared: ‘You cannot speak for workers without their mandate. You cannot claim consensus without consultation. You cannot negotiate workers’ welfare while denying their unions the right to representation.’-