Differences between the Labour unions over the planned indefinite strike continued to tear them apart yesterday when Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) leaders clashed on a live television programme over modalities for the action.
The disagreement was triggered by a claim attributed to NLC President Joe Ajaero that the TUC could not back out of a strike without giving notice.
The 21-day notice given by the Ajaero-led NLC to the Federal Government to call its members out on an indefinite strike expires tomorrow.
The two-day warning strike by the NLC on September 5 and 6 was boycotted by the TUC, whose President, Festus Osifo, argued that there was no basis for such action when the Federal Government and Labour leaders were in talks.
But yesterday, Ajaero said: “From what you can see from our last warning strike, you see that we can do it alone. We can work independently; we can work jointly when we agree.
The TUC president said the Congress never served any notice to go on strike.
He said the union gave the representatives of the Federal Government a week since they solicited more time for President Bola Tinubu to return from the ongoing United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, United States.
Osifo said: “Initially, they asked for two weeks, but we rejected it. Then, they came to one week. We will meet to review the situation and come up with a joint position.
“For us in TUC, we feel that it is always better when we work together, when we synergise because governments all over the world are coming together. It will be too bad if we cannot come together. Whichever way we look at it, it is always better to work together.
“In terms of organized Labour being disorganised, I would agree to that claim because our aim is to ensure the masses are taken care of.”
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The TUC leader dismissed insinuations that the government had broken the ranks of Labour because of the disagreement between the two Labour centres on the planned strike.
Both organisations, Osifo noted, have same goal – to achieve the best for the country.
He said: “If the government thinks it has broken the ranks of Labour, it should have a rethink because that is not correct. The TUC or NLC can call government to the table for dialogue. Our goal is the same, to achieve the best for Nigeria.
According to the TUC boss, the Congress was never consulted for strike and that it did not reach agreement with NLC.
He said: “We looked at everything and felt it was not time to go on strike. We did not agree at any forum with the NLC to go on strike. We didn’t renege because there was no prior agreement. We did not back out of the strike we didn’t call.”
Osifo explained that before announcing a strike, the protocol is for one union to reach out to the other for a conversation, leading to a joint strategy by the unions.
The TUC president said: “In that plan, there are a lot of things that are looked at. You define your clear-cut strategy; you define the timing. You define how you’re going to isolate the downtrodden Nigerians. All these things are defined before both parties will now come and announce a strike action.
“But in this case, I can authoritatively tell you that the TUC was never contacted in any way. It was the same way Nigerians saw it in the media that there was a warning strike on so-and-so day. So, when we saw it, we were amazed.”
Osifo said that enquiries on members’ group chats necessitated the action from the union’s leadership, including its National Administrative Council (NAC), Central Working Committee (CWC), and National Executive Council (NEC).
He said: “Some of our officers were detailed to follow up, but there was no clear-cut response. In our meetings, we x-rayed the issues from the beginning to the end. We looked at the issues of the time and strategy; we looked at everything holistically.”
“After looking at it, TUC felt that there was no time for TUC to go on strike. You will renege when there is a plan. So, if both parties agree to do something and one party now says, ‘No, I am no longer doing it,’ that is when you backtrack.”
