The disagreement between the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) over the Federal Government’s N70,000 transport allowance for civil servants has escalated, with the presidents of both labour centres exchanging accusations over who has the authority to negotiate workers’ benefits.
NLC President Joe Ajaero and his TUC counterpart, Festus Osifo, expressed opposing views on Monday during separate appearances on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, with each defending his organisation’s position on the controversial allowance.
The dispute centres on an intervention approved by the Federal Government for public servants across different levels for an initial period of six months.
While Ajaero maintained that the allowance emerged from collective bargaining involving organised labour and the government, Osifo argued that the NLC could not independently negotiate salaries and allowances on behalf of workers affiliated with TUC unions.
The disagreement has also exposed broader tensions between the two labour centres over representation, collective bargaining and the structure of public-sector industrial relations.
Ajaero defends NLC’s negotiations
Speaking on the television programme, Ajaero dismissed suggestions that the NLC had acted unilaterally in securing the transport allowance, insisting that the agreement followed negotiations with the Federal Government.
He explained that the congress had issued an ultimatum to the government and was preparing for industrial action when officials requested four days to meet with labour representatives at the Presidential Villa.
According to him, the discussions produced an agreement that included the N70,000 transport allowance.
Ajaero said the payment was therefore not a discretionary government intervention but part of an agreement reached through collective bargaining.
He also rejected criticism that he had failed to accommodate the TUC in the negotiation process, arguing that the NLC had the authority to represent workers based on its position within organised labour.
The NLC president further challenged Osifo’s participation in the dispute, accusing him of being largely absent from Nigeria.
“He is an absentee president of the TUC; he doesn’t live in Nigeria. He comes in from the United States to attend meetings and rush back,” Ajaero said.
He also questioned the whereabouts of buses allocated to the TUC under the Federal Government’s Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) transportation initiative.
On the question of representation at the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Ajaero argued that the NLC’s numerical strength and position among organised labour gave it a leading role in coordinating labour representation.
He maintained that the TUC could participate in negotiations alongside the NLC but disputed its claim that it could independently determine the process.
Ajaero also cited the Trade Unions (Amendment) Act 2005 and Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution, which guarantees freedom of association, to argue that workers have the right to choose the unions they wish to join.
He disputed Osifo’s claim that TUC-affiliated unions represented more than 300,000 federal civil servants, arguing that only one TUC-affiliated union belonged to the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC), while seven of its eight constituent unions were affiliated with the NLC.
On reports that some TUC-affiliated unions had rejected the transport allowance, Ajaero said such disagreements should be resolved within the affected organisations.
Osifo challenges NLC’s authority
However, Osifo rejected Ajaero’s interpretation of labour representation, insisting that the TUC had an independent mandate to negotiate on behalf of its members.
He argued that there was nothing in ILO regulations preventing a trade union centre from negotiating for workers affiliated with its constituent unions.
According to him, the requirement for joint participation at international labour engagements does not mean one labour centre can assume the negotiating authority of another.
Osifo explained that the NLC and TUC combine their membership lists for submission through the Federal Ministry of Labour when representing Nigerian workers at the ILO.
He acknowledged that the NLC had more affiliated unions but maintained that this did not give it the right to negotiate on behalf of TUC-affiliated organisations without their participation or consent.
The TUC president also questioned Ajaero’s understanding of the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council, arguing that the council has its own constitution, membership structure and procedures for deliberating on public-sector workers’ concerns.
He insisted that the meeting which produced the N70,000 transport allowance was not a formal JNPSNC meeting because the council’s members were not present and its quorum requirements had not been met.
“The 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,” Osifo said.
He further accused the NLC president of disregarding established procedures in determining adjustments to public-sector workers’ earnings.
Disagreement over minimum wage adjustments
The two labour leaders also disagreed over the broader implications of the N70,000 allowance and the process for determining workers’ minimum wage demands.
Osifo argued that the adjustments following the increase in the national minimum wage from N30,000 to N70,000 required proper consideration by the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council.
He claimed that Ajaero had asked the council to apply a flat N40,000 adjustment across the board, describing the approach as fundamentally flawed.
According to Osifo, he personally confronted the NLC president over the decision, arguing that the adjustment had contributed to poor earnings among federal civil servants.
Ajaero, however, rejected claims that he had promised to submit the NLC’s minimum wage proposal to the TUC but later reneged.
He explained that formal wage proposals could only be submitted after the government established a negotiating committee.
The NLC president said any minimum wage proposal would require consultations among labour organisations, government representatives and employers, alongside supporting justifications.
He also opposed suggestions that workers should wait until another minimum wage negotiation before receiving financial relief.
Responding to the personal exchanges, Ajaero insisted that the disagreement was not a fight between the two labour organisations but a dispute over the issues surrounding workers’ representation.
He accused Osifo of making the disagreement personal rather than focusing on the substance of the negotiations.
The dispute comes amid continuing discussions over workers’ welfare, the implementation of minimum wage adjustments and the representation of public-sector employees by Nigeria’s two major labour centres.
