The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has urged the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to stop taking unilateral decisions on issues of interest to both unions.
The TUC said this in reaction to the two-day nationwide protest declared by the NLC.
The Star recalls that the NLC, last week, declared a two-day nationwide protest slated for February 27 and February 28 over economic hardship and insecurity in the country.
The TUC, in a letter obtained by journalists on Wednesday, February 21, 2024, expressed displeasure and disappointment over the recent development, saying it was happening for the third time since Comrade Joe Ajaero’s led leadership of the NLC came on board.
A source at the TUC, who craved anonymity, further disclosed that it was wrong for the NLC to declare to have declared a two-day nationwide protest without first consulting its sister movement in the struggle after they had jointly issued a 14-day ultimatum on the same matter earlier.
The letter partly read: “You will recall that both centres issued a joint statement with a 14-day ultimatum to the federal government. This ultimatum will expire on Thursday 22nd of February and the right thing to do was for both leaderships to review the situation and agree on the way forward preceding convening our respective NEC meetings.
“Our respective NEC made up of highly intelligent individuals, who are desirous that we both work together always in our collective interest, even if we didn’t anticipate our NEC decision meetings, it is our responsibility as leaders to harmonize our positions before jointly going to the press.
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“It was our understanding that decisions of such magnitude would be made collectively, ensuring that the interests and perspectives of all parties involved are duly considered.
“This is the way other leaders of both centres have worked together from the time of SECSCAN to when TUC was formally registered.
“It is important to stress that this is the third time such unilateral declaration is happening under your leadership. We are therefore constrained to formally put this on record as various discussions, communications and interventions have failed. First and second time could pass as human error but a third time would in our opinion translate to an intentional act to undermine us.
“We cannot be seen to undermine the process of synergy and collaboration between both centres that predates the current leadership of both congresses.
“For the avoidance of doubt, we fully understand that NLC is an independent labour centre that has the right to take independent decisions, it is pertinent that when such decisions are taken unilaterally, there is need to go ahead and implement them unilaterally.
“We wish to postulate that both centres have demonstrated severally that we both have the capacity to go solo but my Comrade President, you will agree with the slogan we couched for this unity that ‘we are always stronger together’, and that shouldn’t be taken for granted.
“We want you to always remember that we have teeming members that we lead and are answerable to; when such abnormality happens, the leadership has the right to defend the sanctity of its congress.
“Recall this same issue of unilateral decision, was what made us stay away from the two-day warning strike that you staged in September last year.
“The entire world noticed our collective strength when the governor of Imo state overstepped his bounds, and we rose to the occasion.
“That is the kind of synergy and collaboration that we yearn for and that we strongly believe the Nigerian working people and the downtrodden are looking from our collaborative efforts of working together.”
The TUC added: “Congress was greatly taken aback and dismayed to learn that you addressed the press and announced the dates for the nationwide protest without consulting us. Making arrangements for the press is even an indication that you have an idea of what the outcome of the NEC meeting would be. This action undermines the spirit of solidarity and cooperation that we have worked hard to foster.
“Nonetheless, we wish to state that such unilateral actions are contrary to the principles of our shared understanding and collaboration. In order to uphold the integrity of our partnership and ensure that the voices of all workers are heard, it is imperative that decisions of this nature be made through open dialogue and consensus-building.
“We kindly urge you to reconsider your approach and to engage in meaningful consultation with all parties moving forward as we will always do same when the table turns. By doing so, we can reaffirm our commitment to working together for the betterment of workers’ rights and welfare.”
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