The faction of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, led by Comrade Joe Ajaero, yesterday rejected the reconciliation committee set up by the Ayuba Wabba faction, to reconcile aggrieved unions following the disputed March 12 rescheduled Congress election, saying such committee was dead on arrival because the Chairman of the Committee and some other members were interested parties in the crisis.

According to Vanguard, the Chairman of the Wabba committee, Alhaji Aliyu Dangiwa, was the returning officer in the disputed election, some other members were products of the same disputed election, insisting that the faction would only respect and honour any invitation by an independent panel made up of labour veterans and civil society organization.

Recall that the Wabba faction of NLC had at the end of its Central Working Committee, CWC, meeting on Wednesday, March 25, 2015, set up a reconciliation committee headed by Dangiwa, the pioneer General Secretary of NLC.

The committee was inaugurated same Wednesday. But briefing journalists yesterday on the outcome of its faction CWC, its president, Comrade Joe Ajaero said in a 27-point communiqué that “The CWC-in-Session reaffirms its commitment to the unity of the Labour Movement in Nigeria based on the principles of trade union independence, fairness, strong internal democracy, equity, solidarity, gender balance and justice.

CWC mandates the leadership of the Congress headed by Comrade Joe Ajaero to enter into genuine dialogue with independent Reconciliation Committee to be constituted by labour veterans and civil society leaders with a view of addressing the current challenges facing the Congress.” “CWC-in-Session congratulates the new Minister of Labour and Productivity, Senator Joel Danlami Ikenya for his appointment and promises to work with him based on mutual trust and respect.

However, CWC-in-Session advises the new Minister of Labour not to hastily dabble into internal affairs of trade union movement and must respect ILO Conventions 87 and 98 with respect to rights of workers to freedom of association and collective bargaining. The C.W.C in Session therefore expressed confidence in the capacity of Comrade Ajaero-led National Administrative Council (NAC) to rebuild and restore the powers and influence of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and provide open, transparent and programmatic leadership that will galvanize the mass of our members in the struggle for decent work.”

(VANGUARD)