The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, has criticised the Trade Union Congress (TUC) over its rejection of the N70,000 monthly transport allowance approved for public workers by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
Speaking in an interview with Channels Television on Wednesday, Ajaero said the TUC had not negotiated with the Federal Government for any intervention to cushion the effects of the rising cost of living.
He explained that while the NLC was pushing for government intervention to ease the economic hardship faced by workers, the TUC did not participate in the effort.
According to Ajaero, the TUC should not challenge an intervention secured for workers when the NLC had been pursuing the matter on its own.
“You don’t kick against something you did not ask for or negotiate for. And you have asked for anything all these years, suddenly something was given to NLC and you now say you are kicking against it. TUC never asked for intervention as a result of rising cost of living,” he said.
Ajaero added, “Why is TUC challenging what was gotten for the workers when we stated clearly that NLC was acting alone?”
The disagreement follows the TUC’s rejection of the N70,000 monthly transport allowance, with the union demanding N300,000 instead.
The Tinubu administration approved the transport allowance amid rising fuel prices and calls for a review of workers’ wages to address the increasing cost of living in the country.
