Oyo workers protest, lock state Secretariat, demand palliatives, others

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The Oyo State workers, on Monday, locked the state secretariat in Ibadan to demand palliatives, upward review of pension allowances and payment of salary deduction.

Participating in the protest are workers and pensioners under the banners of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC), Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) and their affiliates.

Led by their union leaders, the workers are also demanding payment of leave bonuses, payment of gratuities to retirees who have stagnated since the year 2021and release of promotion letters for the Years 2021 and 2022.

No government official is yet to address the protesting workers at of time of filling this report.

Civil servants who hoped to resume work on Monday morning met locked gates, with the union leaders insisting that they only want Governor Seyi Makinde, and no government official, to address their demands.

Speaking on their demands, Chairman, Oyo TUC, Mr Bosun Olabiyi said it was baffling that over six months deductions were still being withheld by the state government.

He added that the protest was also to demand an upward review of pensions, noting that some pensioners receive N300 per month with the last review done in the year 2007.

Olabiyi said: “We are here to see the governor. We believe that our demands are before him. There is six months deduction that has been withheld by the state government. Deductions that are supposed to go to cooperatives, housing, union dues, taken from workers’ salaries, have been withheld.

“This issue of deductions has been on for almost a year. At the January prayer meeting, he promised to pay two months and that two months was not even paid until the end of the month when there was some agitation. Since then, it has again been accumulating.

“Pensioners in Oyo State are really suffering. There are some pensioners still collecting N300 per month. The last time a pension was reviewed was in the year 2007 during the administration of late governor Adebayo Alao-Akala. Since then, there have been things signed but not implemented. So, there are a series of arrears owed to pensioners. There is also the issue of outstanding promotions and leave bonuses. So that is why we all agreed to resume here today; we believe he will address us.”

On his part, the Oyo NLC Chairman, Mr Kayode Martins said the workers yearned to hear from the governor himself on their issues, saying the labour centres have had enough of speaking with the governor’s emissaries who may be misrepresenting the governor.

Martins said: “There has been a lot of communication gap between us and our governor. We insist we want to see him. Many a time, our demands have been misrepresented, we are being misquoted to the governor so we want to see him clear the air so that the harmonious relationship between the workers and the government will persist in the state.

“In the event that the governor does not show up to address us, we go back home, we meet and draw the next line of action.”

Speaking, Chairman, Oyo NUP, Mr Segun Abatan said the pensioners had a litany of requests, top among which were, the need for a review of pensions, last done in 2007, and the need to clear pension arrears.

Abatan said: “Nigerian workers, through the instrumentality of NLC, TUC, NUP have written His Excellency several letters about their demands. Unfortunately, they have not been addressed. Our intention is to meet the governor himself.

“As I speak with you, we have unpaid gratuities from 2014 till date. Also, we have pensioners earning N350 per month so we want pension review. The last pension increase was done by the late Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala in 2007. What I earn in 2007 is still what I earn.”

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