Osun State workers on Monday ended the six weeks strike embarked upon in protest of their non payment of their salaries.
This was after a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed with the state government to put an end to the industrial crisis in the state.
Also, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joint Public Service Negotiating Councils (JPSNC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) in the state have dissociated the unions from the protests embarked upon by a ‘group of people’ in the state which the group claimed was over unpaid salaries.
However, the Labour leaders, at the end of the meeting with the state government representatives at the governor’s office in Osogbo, decided to end the strike and called on civil servants in the state to resume work tuesday.
The state government yesterday commenced the payment of backlog of workers’ salaries starting with January and February 2015 for state workers and March and April 2015 for local government workers.
Other ongoing payments included that of primary school teachers, balance of pensions for state government for November 2014, outstanding pensions for January to February 2015 for retired primary school teachers and March 2015 pensions for retired local government staff.
The MOU was signed by the state government, the JPSNC, NLC and the TUC in the state.
The state Chairman of NLC, Mr. Jacob Adekomi, who spoke on behalf of other Labour leaders, pointed out that Labour, in ending the strike, considered the parlous financial situation of the state arising from decline in monthly federal allocations and dwindling Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) which led to non-payment of six months salaries.
The NLC chairman added that state government and Labour therefore, agreed to enter into an MOU in anticipation of the various efforts to be put in place to end the delay in payments.
He also added that the strike was being suspended to show appreciation to the state government is commitment to the welfare of its workers, having in mind the need to collect data towards the completion of the critical verification exercise of workers and retirees in the public service.
Adekomi stressed that committees would be put in place comprising government and Labour union representatives who would embark on the screening exercise of all categories of workers and pensioners in the state.
According to him, “The MOU we signed today is agreed upon by both parties taking due cognisance of the present parlous financial situation of the state government, on an interim basis, as a condition precedent to suspending the strike.
“Committees will be set up according to the MOU, aimed at screening, determination of the actual wage bill and workers in the employment of the state, the actual number and actual monthly pension bills of both local governments and state government pensioners.”
The NLC chairman called on workers to be more diligent and committed to their work as ever, saying government can only progress when its workers are totally productive.
Adekomi assured workers that government and Labour leaders would meet to fashion out modalities of payment for the remaining four months from the various efforts aimed at ending the crisis.
Consequently, the unions, after calling off the six weeks industrial action in the state yesterday, used the opportunity to condemn the protest in its entirety, describing it as “politically motivated.”
The Chairman of JPSNC, Bayo Adejumo and the NLC chairman, Jacob Adekomi, answering questions from journalists after they signed the MoU to end the industrial strike, said it was important for them to tell the world that the strike was not their idea.
Adejumo alleged that all the protests were sponsored by some fifth columnists in the state who saw the good opportunity in the issue of the non-payment of salary to tarnish the image of the Rauf Aregbesola-led government.
They advised workers in the state to remain steadfast and committed to their work, adding that no worker will be penalised or victimised for staying at home while the strike lasted.
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