Strike Looms In Ogun Over Unpaid 21 Months Deductions, Other Demands

Organized labour is warming up to mobilize workers on the payroll of Ogun State Government for a strike, if government by this comingTuesday fails to commence the payment of the unpaid 21months deductions and eight years of unpaid statutory leave allowances to them

The State Chairman of Trade Union Congress, Comrade Akeem Lasisi who dropped hint in a chat with Edu-biznews on Saturday, said workers were only waiting for expiration of the seven-day fresh ultimatum issued to the government last Tuesday in Abeokuta,  two weeks after no response was given to the earlier opened letter written to Governor Daniel Abiodun jointly signed by TUC as well as Chairmen of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Emmanuel Bankole and that of the Joint Negotiating Council, Comrade Isa Olude    

He explained that a Congress of workers would hold on Monday, where a  decision for the  declaration of the strike would be taken, if no alert is received by midnight of Tuesday

Edu-biznews recalled that in the opened letter dated 7th of June, 2022 ,the organized labour had requested to have audience with the governor to urgently address the issues affecting the workers to prevent the imminent strike by the workers who are demanding for the immediate remittance of deductions from their salaries to the Pension Managers and other appropriate quarters including banks to offset their loan facilities   

The issues identified by the aggrieved workers, both in their open discussions and their demand for declaration of trade dispute with the State Government, includes the following as quoted in the letter

i. Immediate remittance of 21 months of their voluntary savings. This is deducted from salary at source as wished by the aggrieved individual workers with the requests that same be remitted to their micro socioeconomic entities such as Cooperative Societies, etc. that are serving the safety nets for emergency financial credits. Majority of them have been in limbo since these their voluntary savings remain unremitted.

ii. The 8 years of unpaid Statutory Leave Allowances. (The current administration alone owes 4years);

iii. The deliberate breach of agreement in the implementation of the Contributory Pension Scheme (Ogun State Pension Law, [2006] amended in 2013). Deductions ONLY from the State Civil/Public Servants numbering 11 years remain unremitted neither to their preferred Pension Fund Administrators nor to their Pension Fund Custodians.

The governor had during the grand finale of the 2022 Public Service Week, pleaded with the workers to exercise patience with his administration , promising to resolve all the labour issues in the letter as soon as the state improves on its  finances  

But the leadership of the organized labour insisted that the government lacks the political will to clare the deductions, asking the  government to block all leakages in the system, to enable it improve on the internally generated revenue of the state