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The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, has said the union can negotiate the N70,000 transport allowance without the Trade Union Congress (TUC).
Ajaero made the statement while disagreeing with his TUC counterpart, Festus Osifo, over whether both labour centres must take part in the negotiations.
Speaking on Monday, Ajaero said the NLC had the right to negotiate labour issues on its own.
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Credit: TheCable
He based his position on the International Labour Organization (ILO) principle of representation by the majority of workers.
Ajaero described the NLC as Africa’s largest labour centre and said it had enough strength and authority to negotiate directly with the Nigerian Government.
“We don’t need TUC. It can negotiate along with NLC; but NLC can negotiate alone based on the principle of most workers representatives of the ILO.
“TUC can’t negotiate alone; if they are saying and it is implied, it does not happen. I don’t think the Ministry of Labour or the Labour Authority will allow that to happen,” the NLC president said.
His comments came after Osifo said the NLC and TUC must negotiate together to secure better results for workers.
The disagreement has brought attention to differences between the two major labour centres over how to handle the transport allowance issue.
It has also raised questions among workers about the unions’ positions as they push for the allowance, which has yet to be paid by the government.
Some workers have accused labour leaders of allowing political interests to affect discussions about their welfare.
