Ogun: Labour Threatens Strike, Gives Gov Dapo 14-day Ultimatum

Workers in Ogun State have threatened to embark on an industrial action if Governor Dapo Abiodun fails to address their grievances within the next 14 days.

NIGERIA DEFENDER reports that the organised labour in Ogun State met on Wednesday for an emergency meeting held at the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) State Secretariat, Abeokuta.

Some of the issues examined at the meeting include: “the unpaid negotiated and signed new minimum wage; the dysfunctional Contributory Pension Scheme (a total of 134 months deducted from workers and unremitted, still counting); non-promotion of staff since 2018; and unpaid leave allowances to all employees, both of the State and of the Local Governments since 2015.”

Others are: “non-payment of gratuity to retirees since 2013 and that of the Local Government halted in 2011; non-restoration of payment of gross salary; and the zero remittance of the National Housing Fund deductions to the Federal Mortgage Bank.”

In a letter jointly signed by the State NLC Chairman, Bankole Emmanuel; TUC Vice Chairman, Lasisi Akeem; JNC Chairman, Folorunso Olarenwaju and JNC Secretary, Adebiyi Olusegun, the organised labour asked Gov Abiodun to address all the issues raised within 14 days.

In the letter, a copy of which was obtained by our reporter, the workers said, “It is quite obvious that the State government has chosen to situate the welfare of its employees to the sphere of afterthoughts.”

The workers said “We hold the belief that the State government has no clear cut roadmap for solving any issue(s) or matter(s) that bother(s) on its personnel welfare. The issues have become recurring and so over flogged that the insincerity of the state government’s commitment to putting paid to them would not have been said to belong to its list of priorities.”

In their request, Ogun workers asked the State government to set machinery in motion to address all of the items within 14 days; “failing of which the State Organised Labour will call out its members for full industrial action.”

According to them, “the State Organised Labour has demonstrated enough maturity and respect to the development and growth of the State. It is now the turn of the State government to reciprocate.