N70,000 allowance: You cannot negotiate for TUC, Osifo tells NLC

Festus Osifo, the President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), has clashed with his counterpart at the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, over the authority to negotiate salaries and allowances for Nigerian workers. Osifo maintains that the NLC lacks the right to negotiate on behalf of the TUC without its consent, describing the recent approval of an N70,000 transport allowance by President Bola Tinubu as an exception.

The dispute arose during a recent appearance on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief. Osifo criticized Ajaero’s leadership abilities, questioning the quality of leadership within the NLC, citing past prominent leaders. He emphasized that there are no International Labour Organisation (ILO) regulations prohibiting a trade union from negotiating for its members, but rather, such negotiations must involve a tripartite approach including labour, government, and employers.

Osifo further challenged Ajaero to provide evidence from the ILO Regulations that authorise one union to negotiate on behalf of another. He also disputed the role of the Joint Public Sector Negotiating Council (JNC) in the approval of the N70,000 allowance, asserting that the meeting was not a genuine JNC gathering and that the increment was a consequence of the previous minimum wage increase, which resulted in poor compensation for federal workers.