Tricycle union not under you, Oyo TUC tells NURTW

The Trade Union Congress has warned the Oyo State chapter of the National Union of Road Transport Workers to desist from encroaching on its jurisdictional scope by claiming that tricycle association is under it.
Emmanuel Ogundiran, the state Chairman of the TUC, gave the warning in Ibadan on Friday at a news conference, saying the Tricycle Owners Association of Nigeria was an affiliate of the TUC.
Ogundiran said: “Inasmuch as the NURTW is recognised as an industrial union in Nigeria, so also is TOAN because the certificate of registration that NURTW is holding is the same that TOAN is holding.
“NURTW should concern itself with anything on four wheels and stop attempting to annex two and three wheelers to itself.
“When TOAN had not been unionised and registered, they could be hiding under any umbrella, but the union is now registered and recognised as an industrial union.
“We are telling NURTW that enough is enough; the encroachment will be restricted; we won’t allow them to annex TOAN.
“TUC has never annexed any NLC affiliate union; so we won’t allow any of our affiliate members to be annexed.
“NURTW is an affiliate body of Nigeria Labour Congress but TOAN belongs to TUC; so the law should be respected and the status quo allowed to remain.”
Ogundiran admonished NURTW members to desist from disturbing TOAN members at parks.
He also told all tricycle drivers and operators that their rightful union “where they are covered by law” was TOAN.
Corroborating the TUC Chairman, Olukayode Okeowo, the state Secretary of TOAN, said the association was registered in January 2016 as a union.
He said other state chapters of TOAN were under the umbrella of TUC in their respective states, adding: “But it is only Oyo state that NURTW is resisting the move.”
He, however, disclosed that the matter had been reported to the national secretariat of TOAN for its intervention.
The state TOAN secretary said the national executive was trying to meet the Federal Ministry of Labour to seek clarification on the jurisdictional scope.
He called on all members in the state to obey government’s directive on the approved number of passengers to be carrying, that is three per tricycle.
“The regulation is for the benefit of tricycle drivers, because carrying extra passenger in the front seat will be an inconvenience to the driver,” he said.