OSIFO ACCUSES AJAERO OF SIDELINING TUC IN WORKERS’ WAGE NEGOTIATIONS
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By ‘Balogun Ibrahim
The President of the Trade Union Congress, Festus Osifo, has disagreed with his Nigeria Labour Congress counterpart, Joe Ajaero, over the NLC’s authority to negotiate salaries and allowances on behalf of Nigerian workers, insisting that the TUC must be involved in such discussions.
Osifo maintained that the NLC could not negotiate on behalf of the TUC without its participation or consultation. He described the agreement on the N70,000 transport allowance recently approved by President Bola Tinubu as an aberration.
The TUC president made the remarks on Monday while appearing on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, amid the disagreement between the two labour centres over negotiations with the Federal Government.
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Reacting to Ajaero’s position, Osifo expressed concern about the state of the labour movement and questioned the basis for the NLC’s claim to represent the TUC in negotiations.
He argued that International Labour Organisation regulations did not grant one labour centre the authority to negotiate on behalf of another without its involvement.
According to him, although the NLC has more affiliated unions than the TUC, with about 60 affiliates compared to the TUC’s 40, that numerical advantage does not give it the right to represent the other organisation.
Osifo said both labour centres must participate in negotiations and reach a common position, rather than allowing one to make decisions on behalf of the other.
He challenged Ajaero to produce any ILO regulation authorising one labour organisation to negotiate without the participation or consultation of the other.
The TUC president also questioned Ajaero’s understanding of the Joint Public Sector Negotiating Council, arguing that the N70,000 transport allowance agreement was not reached at a formal meeting of the council.
Osifo explained that the JNC had a constitutionally recognised membership and quorum requirement, adding that neither the minister nor Ajaero was a member of the council.
He further disputed the claim that the agreement represented a general decision by the JNC, insisting that its members were not present at the meeting where the arrangement was reached.
On the implementation of the new minimum wage, Osifo said workers received an increase of about 33 per cent, following the adjustment from N30,000 to N70,000.
He argued that the JNC should have convened to determine appropriate consequential adjustments rather than applying a flat N40,000 increase across the board.
According to him, Ajaero had sent a questionnaire to the JNC, asking it to apply the N40,000 difference between the former and new minimum wages uniformly to federal workers.
Osifo said the approach had contributed to what he described as poor earnings among federal workers.
He added that he had personally confronted Ajaero at his office over the decision, maintaining that the use of the JNC in that manner was fundamentally wrong.
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