The President of Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), Festus Osifo, has said his counterpart in the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, did not negotiate the Federal Government’s N70,000 transport allowance for public sector workers.
Osifo spoke during an interview on ChannelsTV while responding to allegations by Ajaero that TUC did not negotiate with the Federal Government over the allowance.
On Tuesday, the Federal Government announced the allowance in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) issued after a meeting between government representatives and NLC leaders in Abuja.
On Wednesday, the TUC rejected the six-month transport allowance for public sector workers, calling for an increase in salaries instead.
In response, Ajaero said the TUC should have negotiated its own terms with the federal government rather than rejecting the outcome of the NLC’s negotiations.
Osifo, however, said discussions about the allowance began before Ajaero’s meeting with the federal government, adding that the government had engaged the TUC over its position on workers’ welfare.
“I want to inform Nigeria that Ajaero never negotiated a transport allowance for the Nigerian workers. He never did that. Ajaero never negotiated a transport allowance for Nigerian workers,” Osifo said.
“This was what happened. When the federal government saw our position and also saw their position, they started having conversations. Three days before, they called me.”
He explained that a meeting involving the TUC and government representatives was held under the supervision of George Akume, secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), during which the idea of a wage award was raised.
“During that meeting, the coalition came up, and the meeting also went further later in the evening between SGF and Nuhu Toro, secretary-general of TUC, where they were muting the idea of wage award,” he said.
“Wage award was already rejected before Ajaero even went there.
“Ajaero did not know how wage award came. Ask Ajaero in the meeting that he was having in the federal ministry, did he mention wage award on transportation? He never did. Ask him.
“He said he negotiated. It is a complete lie. He never negotiated.”
The TUC president said that the government had considered the wage award before Ajaero’s meeting at the ministry of labour.
Osifo also challenged Ajaero to identify the demands he presented during the meeting, arguing that the absence of such a demand showed that no negotiation had taken place.
“That issue of wage award came earlier. We already rejected it before the meeting Ajaero held in the Ministry of Labour. It was while he was there that they announced to him that, okay, that they have 70,000 as wage award,” he said.
“If he said he negotiated, what was his demand? Go and read all of Ajaero’s demand. There is nothing like wage award in it. He never placed any demand forward.
“Because negotiation is, I place demand forward. Government will now come with their position. You will now be going to and fro. You arrive at a particular destination midway. That never happened. This can be confirmed from people in the Ministry of Labour and those that were in that meeting.
“So, it was an approval that the government already gave a day earlier or about two days earlier before that meeting.”
