By Chukwudi Obasi
Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President, Joe Ajaero, has rejected the Trade Union Congress (TUC)’s opposition to the Federal Government’s ₦70,000 monthly transport intervention for workers.
Ajaero described the TUC’s position as inconsistent with the negotiation that produced the intervention, insisting that the union could not reject an agreement it did not participate in.
He spoke on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Thursday, amid a growing disagreement between the two labour centres over the government’s six-month transport support.
“The agreement was not signed by the Trade Union Congress; you don’t kick against something you did not negotiate or never asked for,” Ajaero said.
The NLC president said he would have preferred TUC to negotiate a higher intervention rather than reject the amount secured through the process.
According to him, the two labour centres could have presented different demands, leaving the government to determine how to accommodate them.
Ajaero also disputed a reported position by the TUC leadership that the national minimum wage would next be reviewed in August 2027.
He maintained that the NLC’s position was based on the provisions of the law and the timing of the next wage negotiation.
The NLC leader said the transport intervention represented a significant gain for workers, particularly because the ₦70,000 amount is equivalent to the current national minimum wage.
He argued that the intervention, coming months before the scheduled minimum wage negotiation in April 2027, would provide additional relief to workers facing rising energy and living costs.
Ajaero said the NLC had carried the burden of negotiations that produced the intervention and expressed surprise at the TUC’s decision to distance itself from the outcome.
He maintained that TUC could still campaign for a larger intervention but should not attempt to invalidate what another labour centre had secured.
“He is still free to agitate for one million naira but not to reject what we have gotten,” Ajaero said.
The NLC president said the labour movement had relied on negotiations and the threat of industrial action over several years to secure improvements in workers’ welfare.
He argued that the transport intervention should therefore be viewed as part of broader efforts by organised labour to cushion the effects of economic hardship on Nigerian workers.
