ULC, NLC crisis deepens, labour ministry tasked to investigate workers’ activities

All is not well within the labour movement as the newly found United Labour Congress (ULC) has‎ tasked the Ministry of Labour and Employment to investigate the activities of some of its workers who are allegedly providing confidential information to the rival Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) over the registration process of the new labour coalition, managed by one-time factional president of the NLC, Comrade Joe Ajaero.

This information is contained in a letter addressed to the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Sen. Chris Ngige, dated February 13, 2017‎.

According to the ULC, certain information that is in possession of the rival organisation can be detrimental to the registration process of the new labour centre.

The letter which was exclusively released to Daily Times, reads in part: “‎We are convinced that the release of the names of trade unions seeking registration, even before the birth of the ULC, seriously compromises the integrity of the registration process and undermines our confidence in it.

“Some operatives of your ministry may have gone beyond their reach to make it available to them (NLC, TUC) thus needs your investigation.”

ULC described the letter written by the NLC, TUC as “‎imperious.”

“‎We advise the ministry to aggressively monitor its staff especially those that may be colluding with the NLC and TUC in order to carry out outright sabotage of the determination of the Ministry to carry out its objectives creatively and effectively within the ambits of our various statutes.”

The ULC described the action the NLC and TUC as a ploy to deny Nigerian workers a new platform to express their democratic rights, saying that it is “worried that the presidents of NLC and TUC who pride themselves as comrades and democrats would descend to this depth to urge the Government not to allow Nigerian workers to freely seek new platforms for democratic expressions as enshrined in our Constitution and freely guaranteed by natural laws.”

Reacting to the information made available to the ministry over unregistered shell unions‎, ULC laments the number of unions that have allegedly been denied access to trade unionism.

“We are amazed that these numbers of Unions representing a chunk of Nigerian workers are shut out of the organised trade union sector. We shall work assiduously with your Ministry to correct this aberration”.

‎”The ULC questions the integrity of some staff of the Ministry as it concerns its registration because of the apparent clash of interest.

The members of NCSU and ASCSN all affiliates of NLC and TUC respectively are in charge at the ministry and can undermine any other union seeking registration with the Registrar of Trade Unions if such registration is not to their advantage”.

It will be recalled that the NLC and TUC had alerted the federal government over the existence of a new labour union, currently seeking registration as the third labour centre in the country.

Their letter dated January 19, 2017 was signed by the NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba and his TUC counterpart, Comrade Bobboi Kaigama.

Titled ‘Need to avert anarchy in the industrial relations system in the country: Mushroom/Shell trade unions’ and addressed to the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Ngige, the two leaders said they were constrained to bring the issue to the minister’s attention because of the damage the new union could cause to the labour movement.