The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has slammed President Bola Tinubu for telling labour unions in the country to stop their protests and wait for 2027 to join the political process.
The TUC described such statement as alien as the TUC President, Festus Osifo, maintained that labour unions were within their right to protest, adding that the right to strike is that of the workers.
SaharaReporters reported on Thursday, that President Tinubu had while inaugurating the Lagos Red Line project, advised the organised labour that they were not the only voice for Nigerians and therefore should maintain peace and stop the protests over high cost of living.
But featuring on Channels TV programme on Friday, Osifo, reminded president Tinubu that there were some issues that led to the protest adding that he should be concerned in addressing those fundamental issues than bantering words with the organised labour.
Osifo said, “I listened to that comment yesterday where he said that we should wait for 2027 if we want to contest for elections. I could speak for Trade Union Congress, we are not politicians, we are unionists, it is our right to protest – it is a fundamental right of every single Nigerian.
“So we don’t have issues with protests, when need be, people will exercise their rights and people must protest. In terms of waiting till 2027 to enter into politics, I don’t think that is something we could dabble into because I as an individual I am not a card-carrying member of any political party.
“What I am interested in is the welfare of my members and indeed the entire Nigerian masses. So, what the president said for me is alien to us because the right to protest and the right to strike is that of the workers.
“There are condition precedents, for the fact that you are going on protest or strike, there are some things that led to it, those fundamental issues must be addressed.”
Osifo also responded to comments that the TUC betrayed the NLC by not joining in the last protest against hardship on Tuesday.
He said the TUC was never part of any agreement to go for protest and therefore could not be said to have opted out.
“I’ll just explain exactly what happened to you. Now, you see when you have when you say somebody opt out from a process, it means that the person was in before, it means that there was an agreement to do something.
“When there is an agreement to do something at the last minute, you will not say I am not doing again. That is opting out, then you can use the word sold out. But in this scenario, there wasn’t any agreement to do anything.
“We did not have any conversation; nobody even mentioned it to us that this is the direction to go. That conversation never took place. So as long as that also never took place, we never opt out of anything. If there was an initial agreement that let’s go for a protest, the winner say we are not going for that protest.
“You could call that opt out, you could call that sold out, you could call that anything. But in this scenario, there was no understanding at all. In fact, there was no discussion that could have even led to any understanding,” he said.
