Veteran Labour Leaders Intervene to Resolve NLC, TUC Rift

• FG commits to CBA 

•Ajaero: We won’t surrender N70,000 transport allowance

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

Stakeholders and veteran labour leaders of organised labour have intervened to resolve the misunderstanding between the NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) over the recent agreement with the federal government on the N70,000 transport allowance.

The leaders have summoned the leadership of NLC and TUC for dialogue and has asked them to end further altercation in the media regarding the issue.

But NLC said it considers the N70,000 transport allowance as starting point for further negotiation for better minimum wage and is not ready to abandon it.

Former President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and former President of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Comrade Ayuba Wabba, disclosed this at the 52nd National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN) in Abuja.

He said the rift, which has generated media attention, is being exaggerated by third parties seeking to undermine workers’ unity, solidarity and strength.

According to Wabba, the labour veterans including pioneer labour leader, Hassan Sumonu and other past presidents of NLC and TUC have asked both labour centres to suspend further public altercations.

“I’m happy that NLC leadership under Ajaero have agreed to the advice of the leaders to say yes, suspend any further altercation, I do not want to see any further statement. We the veterans have intervened and I also told the media yesterday that some of those things out there are just media hype because I don’t see anything in it that every media will be turning attention to.

“There are more important issues like inequality than those issues that are being imported by third parties to try to undermine workers’ unity, worker strength and worker solidarity,” Wabba said.

Wabba warned the NLC was built by the sweat and blood of Nigerian workers and must not be allowed to be brought down.

“Anybody that wants to bring it down certainly we will not take it lightly. Unity is strength and all of us must advocate for unity of the working class,” he said, recalling sacrifices of founding fathers who left professional careers to build the movement and produced leaders at national and global levels.

He urged workers to set the political agenda and demand issue-based campaigns, citing example of Brazil where trade unions remobilised to return former metal workers’ union leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as President who lifted 40 million people from poverty to prosperity.

He lamented that the purchasing power of ordinary Nigerian workers has been eroded and the middle class wiped out, stressing that politics is about how resources are managed, shared and distributed.

On his part, Minister of Labour and Employment Alhaji Muhammad Maigari represented by former Registrar of Trade Union said that “federal government is fully committed to ensuring that the ongoing collective bargaining agreement negotiation is concluded as soon as possible and that its implementation can bring the expected relief and improved condition of service to your members”.

NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, while addressing the NEC, said labour will not surrender the N70,000 transport allowance already secured, describing it as an addition that cannot be taken away.

“Whatever we got for you, nobody can take away from us. The N70,000 you are hearing is just an intervention. Like I said somewhere, when you give glucose to someone and it is inside his mouth, if you want the glucose to bring it out, you put your hand there. You know what will happen. So now that we have N70,000 on top of N70,000 you know where we are going to start from,” Ajaero said.

He said the agreement followed mandate from affiliate unions including handling of JOHESU and JNPSNC issues, and represents a landmark achievement.

Representing TUC President, Comrade Festus Osifo, Secretary General Dr. Nuhu Toro explained that TUC’s position was that rather than accepting N70,000 transport allowance as a six-month adhoc arrangement, the government should build it into the salary structure of workers.

He said TUC prefers an enduring benefit embedded in salary to a one-off payment, noting that if embedded, workers would have N140,000 and it would not be removed during future negotiations

“The NLC is saying pay N70,000 transport allowance. The TUC was not there when that was negotiated, and the TUC said, we think you should negotiate for the N70,000 to be component of the salary. For instance, if N70,000 is added to your housing allowance, it becomes part of your salary and will not be taken off after six months.

“So, the TUC said no, let’s make it holistic so that they won’t take it off after six months. So that is the argument. It’s not any issue,” Toro said.

The TUC scribe assured that veterans of both centres are engaging and that TUC remains committed to defending workers’ rights, including implementation of JOHESU agreement which was part of its October 8 letter to Federal Government.

Earlier in his address at the NEC meeting, president of MHWUN, Comrade Kabiru Minjibir, lamented the poor welfare condition of the health workers, urging federal government to take urgent steps

However, he said that ahead of the 2027 General election the union has resolved not to be partisan or endorse any candidate or political party

“Let me state the position of this Union without ambiguity. MHWUN is a trade union, not a political party. We will not endorse any party or candidate, and the funds of this Union will not be used to finance any of them. Our members are free to vote their conscience, and no one speaks for this Union when speaking for a party.

“Our influence does not lie in telling members how to vote. It lies in making the health worker’s agenda impossible to ignore, whoever wins.

Our case is simple, and it is a legal one as much as a moral one.  “A collective agreement signed by the federal government is an obligation of the state.

It does not lapse when a tenure ends, and no incoming administration is entitled to treat it as the debt of its predecessor. Whoever is declared winner after 16th January will inherit the CONHESS table, the arrears and the unconcluded negotiations, along with the treasury.

“I therefore urge every member to take part peacefully in the electoral process and not to take any action that would smear the good name of the union or jeopardize the interest of our members,” he said.